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INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 


INDUSTRY 
AND  HUMANITY 

A  STUDY 

IN  THE  PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING 

INDUSTRIAL  RECONSTRUCTION 

BY 
HON.  W.  L.  MACKENZIE  KING,  C.M.G. 

M.A.,  LL.B.  (Toronto);  Ph.D.  {Ha^-vard) 

FELLOW  OF  THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY   OF   CANADA 
FORMER    MINISTER    OF   LABOR,    CANADA 
AUTHOR  OF   "the  SECRET  OF  HEROISM  " 


BOSTON   AND   NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

(Cbe  Ritet^ibe  prcs^  Cambribjje 

1918 


COPYRIGHT,    I91S,    BY   W.    L.    MACKENZIE    KING 
ALL    RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  November  1Q18 


TO  THE  MEMORY 

OF 

MY  FATHER  AND  MY  MOTHER 


Science  will  have  tried,  by  obeying 
the  law  of  Humanity,  to  extend  the 
frontiers  of  Life." 

LOUIS  PASTEUR 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

I  AM  indebted  to  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  for  the 
opportunity  which  has  made  possible  the  writing  of 
this  book.  When  I  was  invited  by  the  Foundation, 
in  June,  1914,  to  undertake  a  study  of  industrial 
relations,  it  was  expected  that  I  would  visit  dif- 
ferent countries,  make  first-hand  investigations, 
and,  as  a  result  of  these  inquiries,  offer  construc- 
tive suggestions  concerning  industrial  and  social 
pohcies.  The  War  not  only  prevented  me  from 
making  studies  abroad,  but  so  completely  changed 
the  industrial  situation  in  all  countries  that  I  was 
compelled  to  modify  my  plans  considerably. 

Hopeful  of  being  constructively  helpful,  not- 
withstanding changed  conditions,  I  decided  to 
make  a  personal  investigation  into  the  root  causes 
of  some  of  the  existing  industrial  controversies 
in  America,  and  to  contribute,  by  suggestion  or 
otherwise,  as  opportunity  offered,  to  working  out 
improvements  in  the  relations  between  Capital  and 
Labor.  I  also  decided  to  prepare,  on  the  basis  of 
my  own  experience  and  the  Uterature  available,  a 
statement  of  underlying  principles  which  are  find- 
ing expression  in  the  organization  of  industrial  so- 
ciety, and  which  should  obtain  in  all  efforts  at 


X  PREFATORY  NOTE 

reconstruction.  This  volume  marks  the  completion 
of  that  endeavor. 

The  War  has  done  more  than  change  the  pre- 
sent. It  has  forced  the  consideration  of  the  future 
on  a  scale  never  before  attempted.  The  countries 
of  Europe  are  already  formulating  comprehensive 
programmes  of  national  reconstruction  which  in- 
clude industry,  housing,  health,  and  education.  The 
Governments  of  the  different  countries,  including 
the  United  States,  have  constituted  Commissions 
and  Departments  on  reconstruction.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances, the  Rockefeller  Foundation  deemed  it 
fitting,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  year, 
to  discontinue  studies  of  industrial  relations,  and 
to  devote  itself  primarily  to  the  programme  of 
medical  education,  pubhc  health  demonstration, 
and  war  work  co-operation  to  which  it  has  become 
increasingly  committed. 

The  Foundation  has  granted  me  permission  to 
pubhsh,  as  my  own  property,  any  part  of  the  result 
of  the  study  of  industrial  relations.  The  present 
volume  is  therefore  published  as  a  personal  con- 
tribution to  this  important  subject.  The  Founda- 
tion is  in  no  way  to  be  identified  with  views  or 
opinions  expressed.  Responsibihty  must  be  wholly 
mine.  I  trust  that  some  of  the  ideas  may  be  of  serv- 
ice in  the  task  of  industrial  reconstruction  with 
which  the  world  is  confronted.  Where  deductions 
or  opinions  are  erroneous,  or  inapphcable  to  exist- 


PREFATORY  NOTE  xi 

ing  conditions,  their  limitations  are  pretty  certain 
to  be  exposed  under  public  criticism.  The  truth 
may  be  expected,  of  itself,  to  defend  itself.  Magna 
vis  veritaiis  quae  facile  se  per  se  ipsa  defendat. 

I  should  hke  to  record  my  grateful  appreciation 
of  the  opportunity  of  study  afforded  me  by  the 
Rockefeller  Foundation,  and  my  acknowledgment 
of  unfaihng  consideration  on  the  part  of  all  its  offi- 
cers and  members.  I  wish  it  were  possible  to  ac- 
knowledge what  I  owe  to  sources  drawn  upon  in 
the  course  of  my  study.  I  have  sought  to  indicate 
this  obhgation  by  references  which  appear  in  the 
text  itself  or  in  the  several  footnotes.  In  a  few  in- 
stances, I  have  not  hesitated  to  make  use  of  lan- 
guage more  exact  and  expressive  than  any  at  my 
command.  All  such  occasions  will,  I  think,  be 
apparent.  I  should,  perhaps,  make  special  mention 
of  the  Memorandum  on  the  Industrial  Situation 
After  the  War  by  the  Garton  Foundation,  of  Lon- 
don, England.  The  researches  of  members  of  the 
Garton  Foundation  paralleled  in  a  way  my  own. 
Their  conclusions  and  mine  were  similar  in  so  many 
particulars  that  in  the  revision  of  my  manuscript  I 
found  it  impossible  not  to  adopt  some  of  the  more 
adequate  and  definitive  expressions  contained  in 
the  Memorandum.  Mr.  F.  A.  McGregor,  B.A.,  has 
assisted  me  throughout  in  the  work  of  investiga- 
tion. He  has  also  been  most  helpful  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  volume  for  pubhcation. 


xu  PREFATORY  NOTE 

I  must  ask  my  readers  to  concede  to  the  pub- 
lishers whatever  measure  of  thanks  or  censure  is  to 
be  incurred  because  of  references  to  personal  inci- 
dents which  the  book  contains.  It  was  written 
without  more  than  a  single  personal  mention.  I 
was  told  that  illustration  from  personal  experiences 
gained  from  a  contact  with  labor  problems  more  or 
less  intimate  over  twenty  years,  might  help  to  dis- 
close the  importance  of  some  of  the  principles  set 
forth,  and  thereby  add  to  the  authority  and  useful- 
ness of  the  book.  If  there  has  been  error  of  judg- 
ment in  yielding  to  a  temptation  which  hitherto  I 
have  sought  to  avoid,  I  trust  it  will  be  beheved 
that  the  error  would  not  have  been  committed  but 
for  a  desire  to  emphasize  some  truths  of  which  I 
have  personal  knowledge.  In  days  when  the  hves 
of  men  are  being  sacrificed  in  the  cause  of  the 
world's  freedom,  I  have  felt  that  the  danger  of  be- 
ing misunderstood  should  not  be  allowed  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  any  contribution  it  may  be  possible 
to  make  to  the  removal  of  human  injustice.  One 
of  the  aims  of  the  book  is  to  show  that  the  War, 
in  the  last  analysis,  is  but  the  expression  upon  a 
world  scale  of  conflicting  forces  also  at  work  in  the 
relations  of  Industry. 

W.  L.  Mackenzie  King 

The  Roxborough, 

Ottawa,  Canada, 
October  3,  1918 


CONTENTS 

Introduction xv 

I.  Industrial  and  International  Unrest  .      .  1 

II.  The  World  Aspect 29 

III.  The  Human  Aspect 59 

IV.  Confusion  or  Progress 91 

V.  The  Parties  to  Industry 127 

VI.  The  Basis  of  Reconstruction   .      .      .      .149 

VII.  Principles  Underlying  Peace    ....  167 

VIII.  Principles  Underlying  Work    ....  233 

IX.  Principles  Underlying  Health        .      .       .  304 

X.  Representation  in  Industry       ....  364 

XI.  Government  in  Industry 391 

XII.  Education  and  Opinion 430 

Appendix:  Charts  and  Diagrams  illustrative 
of  Industrial  Relations 531 

Index 561 


INTRODUCTION 

The  existing  attitude  of  Capital  and  Labor  toward 
each  other  is  too  largely  one  of  mistrust  born  of 
Fear.  That  was  the  position  of  the  nations  of 
Europe  before  the  War.  If  Industry  is  to  serve 
Humanity,  this  attitude  must  be  changed  to  one 
of  trust  inspired  by  Faith.  An  industrial  system 
characterized  by  antagonism,  coercion,  and  resist- 
ance must  yield  to  a  new  order  based  upon  mutual 
confidence,  real  justice,  and  constructive  good-will. 
The  change  will  involve  patience,  but  nothing  short 
of  it  will  solve  the  problems  to  which  Industry 
gives  rise. 

Christianity  differs  from  Heathenism  in  that  its 
attitude  is  founded  upon  Faith,  not  upon  Fear. 
Despite  contrary  appearances,  the  transition  from 
Fear  to  Faith  is  being  wrought  out  slowly  in  inter- 
national and  industrial  affairs.  Wherever  it  has 
progressed,  an  attitude  of  militancy  has  given  way 
to  one  of  co-operation.  The  transition  has  been 
accompanied  by  changes  in  outer  form  and  or- 
ganization, but  the  indwelling  spirit  has  been  its 
one  sustaining  reality.  Where  the  spirit  fails,  the 
whole  fabric  becomes  dismantled.  Witness  Europe 
to-day ! 

The  infusion  of  a  new  spirit  into  Industry  will 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

come,  as  a  new  attitude  in  Science  and  Religion 
came,  only  through  a  belief  in  some  order  with 
which  all  things  should  accord,  and  through  the 
application  of  principles  founded  on  this  beUef. 
As  respects  the  phenomena  of  Industry,  the  per- 
ception of  such  an  order  demands,  above  all  else, 
fme  discernment  between  economic  and  human 
values;  between  the  ends  which  Wealth  and  the 
ends  which  Life  were  meant  to  serve.  The  un- 
plumbed  depths  of  contrasts  so  profound  are  to 
be  estimated  only  by  the  unfathomable  difference 
between  matter  and  spirit.  It  is  impossible  to  ex- 
press relationships  born  of  such  distinctions  in 
terms  of  either  class  or  nationality.  A  material 
versus  a  spiritual  interpretation  of  Life  alone  de- 
fines the  issue. 

Many-sided  comprehension  is  essential  to  any 
inteihgent  understanding  of  industrial  relation- 
ships, however  circumscribed.  Some  conception 
such  as  underhes  the  words  Industry  and  Hu- 
manity is  needed  to  afford  a  true  perspective  of 
the  industrial  problem  as  a  whole.  These  words 
invite  reflection  upon  the  number,  magnitude,  and 
complexity  of  factors  and  forces  of  which  account 
ought  to  be  taken.  They  also  suggest  the  difficul- 
ties attendant  upon  industrial  reconstruction  at- 
tempted under  influences  which,  more  than  ever, 
are  world-wide  in  their  operation. 

The  infinite  possibifities  for  good  or  evil  which 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

lie  in  the  immediate  trend  of  industrial  develop- 
ment, no  words  can  adequately  convey.  In  the 
community  spirit  and  corporate  consciousness 
which  the  War  has  helped  to  arouse,  and  the  co- 
operation it  has  furthered  between  men  and  nations, 
there  should  be  found  the  necessary  impetus  to  a 
new  order.  If  the  transition  the  War  has  wrought 
in  international  relations  is  to  be  effected  also  in 
Industry,  the  habit  of  mind  which  resolves  its 
problems  sectionally,  in  terms  of  class,  or  even  of 
country,  must  be  abandoned,  and  its  place  taken 
by  a  world  outlook.  For  their  ultimate  solution, 
international  and  industrial  problems,  alike,  await 
the  inspiration  of  an  universally  accepted  faith  in 
human  brotherhood. 

Much  of  the  progress  of  civilized  countries  lies 
prostrate  to-day  under  the  iron  heel  of  Mihtarism. 
Through  the  establishment  of  right  relations  in 
Industry,  Labor  and  Capital  have  it  in  their  power 
to  end  competitive  arming  between  nations,  and 
to  secure  to  the  world  immunity  from  further  wars. 
They  have  the  even  greater  opportunity  of  releas- 
ing Industry  from  the  servitude  in  which  it  is  held 
by  war  and  the  fear  of  war;  and  of  making  of  forces 
hitherto  utilized  in  the  work  of  destruction,  instru- 
ments for  the  relief  of  Mankind.  Industry  has 
been  used  to  destroy  Humanity.  If  the  world  is  to 
be  spared  further  witness  of  such  colossal  tragedy, 
there  must  be  a  vision  of  industrial  relationships 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

broader  than  that  which  seeks  the  exclusive  ad- 
vancement of  special  interests.  Industry  must  be 
made  to  serve  and  to  save  Humanity  through  a 
recognition  of  common  interests  between  men  of 
all  classes  and  of  all  countries. 

Already  there  is  ample  evidence  that  readjust- 
ment of  industrial  relations  in  accordance  with 
right  ideas  may  mean  to  many  countries  the  differ- 
ence between  a  better  social  condition  and  a  con- 
dition of  national  disorder  hardly  less  frightful 
than  that  occasioned  by  the  War  itself.  If  the 
higher  civilization  for  which  men  have  fought  and 
died  is  to  be  maintained,  and  the  vast  expenditure 
of  human  and  material  resources  is  not  to  have 
been  in  vain,  Industry  must  be  freed  of  forces 
and  influences  which  have  proven  so  disastrous  in 
Nationality.  In  such  circumstances,  the  measure 
of  individual  obligation  and  personal  responsibility 
is  very  great. 

In  no  way  is  progress  likely  to  be  so  appreciably 
affected  as  in  the  attitude  of  those  who  are  respon- 
sible for  the  conduct  of  Industry,  especially  Em- 
ployers and  Leaders  of  Organized  Labor,  and  per- 
sons concerned  in  the  direction  of  Government. 
There  can  be  no  higher  form  of  patriotism  than 
the  honorable  discharge  of  this  responsibility;  no 
neglect  more  criminal  than  indifference  to  it.  To 
adjust  industrial  relations  with  advantage  to  the 
immediate  parties  to  Industry  and  to  the  good  of 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

the  Community,  is,  at  the  present  time,  as  never 
before,  a  most  useful  and  necessary  form  of  pubhc 
service.  To  emphasize  and  help  to  enforce  the 
reciprocal  responsibility  of  the  Community  for  in- 
dustrial conditions  is  equally  important  and  pa- 
triotic. 

It  is  the  main  purpose  of  this  study  to  point  the 
way  to  a  change  of  attitude  in  industrial  relations, 
and  to  suggest  means  whereby  a  new  spirit  may 
be  made  to  permeate  Industry  through  the  appli- 
cation of  principles,  tried  by  time,  and  tested  by 
experience. 

In  the  accompanying  pages,  I  have  attempted  to 
give  glimpses  of  the  industrial  problem  as  a  whole, 
and  to  render  apparent  the  inseparability  of  Peace, 
Work,  and  Health  in  all  that  pertains  to  Industry. 
In  the  same  connection,  I  have  also  sought  to  dis- 
close the  ever-present  bearing  of  Discovery  and 
Invention,  Government,  Education,  and  Opinion. 
The  underlying  causes  of  industrial  unrest;  the 
evolution  of  industrial  phenomena;  the  significance 
and  functions  of  the  respective  parties  to  Industry; 
the  essential  features  of  industrial  processes :  —  all 
these  are  touched  upon,  as  well  as  methods  by 
which,  from  time  to  time,  improvement  and  ameli- 
oration of  existing  conditions  have  been  sought. 
The  major  portion  of  the  treatise  is  devoted  to  the 
principles  underlying  right  relations  in  Industry, 
and  to  a  consideration  of  rules  of  conduct  and 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

methods  of  organization  by  which  fundamental 
principles  may  be  practically  appUed. 

In  the  desire  that  what  is  written  may  occasion 
reflection,  I  have  purposely  avoided  a  dry-as-dust 
and  mechanical  exposition,  and  have  substituted 
therefor  a  method  of  expression  and  treatment 
which,  I  trust,  may  cause  the  truth  to  make  its 
appeal  to  the  imagination,  as  well  as  to  the  reason, 
of  those  who  peruse  these  pages.  At  the  same 
time,  I  have  endeavored  not  to  be  indifferent  to 
accepted  methods  of  dispassionate  research,  but 
have  sought,  by  orderly  arrangement,  critical  an- 
alysis, and  graphic  classification,  to  disclose  some- 
thing of  inter-relations  and  proper  adjustments, 
and  something  of  a  unity  underlying  the  elements 
of  industrial  life  as  comprehensive  as  they  them- 
selves are  intricate  and  vast. 


INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 


INDUSTRY 
AND  HUMANITY 

CHAPTER  I 
INDUSTRIAL  AND  INTERNATIONAL  UNREST 

It  was  just  a  century  ago  that  Mrs.  Shelley  wrote 
"Frankenstein."  No  subsequent  novel  has  sur- 
passed its  conception  in  hideousness.  A  youth  of 
fine  sensibilities,  conversant  with  the  knowledge  of 
philosophers  and  the  discoveries  of  scientists,  is 
portrayed  as  having  created,  by  mechanical  means, 
a  living  monster,  endowed  with  powers  which 
prove  greater  than  his  own.  Like  himself,  this 
creature  possesses,  at  the  outset,  "thoughts  that 
are  filled  with  the  sublime  and  transcendent  visions 
of  the  beauty  and  the  majesty  of  goodness." 
Finding  itself  feared  and  abhorred  by  others,  its 
nature  changes;  it  feels  that  it  could  rush  among 
mankind,  and  perish  in  the  attempt  to  destroy. 
In  time,  demoniacal  design  becomes  an  insatiate 
appetite.  To  his  horror,  Frankenstein  is  unable  to 
endure  the  aspect  of  the  being  he  has  created.  In 
the  agony  of  witnessing  its  first  monstrous  deed, 
he  recognizes  that  he  has  turned  loose  into  the 
world  a  depraved  wretch,  a  man-machine,  whose 


2  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

delight  is  in  carnage  and  misery.  The  murder  of 
his  brother  is  not  alone  the  measure  of  his  despair. 
Frankenstein  is  doomed  to  see  all  whom  he  has 
most  loved  die  under  the  demon's  grasp ;  to  realize 
that  its  joy  is  to  shed  their  blood,  and  to  revel  in 
their  groans.  He  discovers  he  has  unchained  an 
enemy  devoted  to  the  destruction  of  beings  who 
possess  exquisite  sensations,  happiness  and  wis- 
dom; and  beholds  man's  very  existence  a  condi- 
tion precarious  and  full  of  terror. 

Nor  is  Frankenstein's  horror  and  grief  greater 
than  that  of  the  monster  he  has  created.  In  the 
tortures  of  remorse,  this  being  recalls  that  he  has 
murdered  the  lovely  and  the  helpless;  has  stran- 
gled the  innocent  as  they  slept;  has  grasped  to 
death  the  throat  of  one  who  never  injured  him 
or  any  other  living  thing;  and  that  he  has  con- 
demned his  creator  to  misery,  and  pursued  him 
to  irremediable  ruin.  "All  my  speculations  and 
hopes,"  he  cries,  "are  as  nothing;  and  like  the 
archangel  who  aspired  to  Omnipotence,  I  am 
chained  in  an  eternal  hell!" 

What  is  this  weird  tale  but  a  parable,  all  too 
realistic,  of  the  War  that  has  destroyed  so  large  a 
portion  of  mankind?  Where,  but  in  the  studies  of 
political  philosophers,  were  conceived  those  ideas 
which  have  found  expression  in  efforts  at  world 
domination?  And  where,  but  in  chemical  and  me- 
chanical laboratories,  were  invented  those  prod- 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  3 

ucts  of  modern  Industry  which  have  led  to  the 
destruction  of  Humanity  on  a  scale  so  appalling? 
The  instruments  which  man  has  created  appear  to 
have  become  more  powerful  than  human  genius  to 
control  its  own  inventions.  It  will  ever  be  so,  as 
long  as  men  are  unwilUng  to  recognize  that  the 
whole  is  greater  than  its  parts,  and  that  Human- 
ity has  rights  superior  to  those  of  Industry  or  of 
NationaUty. 

To  all  who  beUeve  that  the  War  happened  be- 
cause a  certain  theory  of  the  State  was  held  and 
appUed  by  the  few  men  who  controlled  policy  and 
armaments,  and  because  the  ordinary  people, 
whom  the  War  has  massacred  and  ruined  by  mil- 
lions, had  not  the  knowledge,  nor  the  education  of 
heart  and  mind,  nor  the  organization,  to  control 
those  men,  the  militarist  State  will  appear  as  the 
monster,  and  its  rulers  as  Frankenstein.  The  su- 
preme tragedy  is  that  any  people  should  have 
permitted  the  development  of  a  militarist  system 
with  powers  beyond  their  control,  and  which  in 
being  loosed  upon  the  world  has  proven  the  author 
of  their  own  undoing,  and  a  scourge  to  all  mankind. 

To  those  who  think  primarily  of  Industry  in  its 
relation  to  Humanity,  the  parable  will  acquire 
even  greater  significance.  They  will  behold  at  what 
cost  Industry  has  been  directed  to  the  transfor- 
mation of  the  world's  resources  into  instruments 
of  human  destruction.    Who  can  say  the  extent 


4  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

to  which  the  application  of  scientific  knowledge, 
and  the  inventions  of  science,  have  been  devoted 
to  augmenting  and  perfecting  means  of  human 
slaughter,  on  land,  and  sea,  and  in  the  air?  Who 
can  estimate  the  percentage  of  the  world's  capital 
and  labor  that  has  been  applied  to  forging  the 
weapons  and  amassing  the  munitions  which  have 
made  possible  the  awful  carnage  of  our  day? 
Surely,  Industry  is  something  other  than  was 
intended  by  those  who  contributed  to  its  creation, 
when  it  can  be  transformed  into  a  monster  so 
demoniacal  as  to  breed  a  terror  unparalleled  in 
human  thought,  and  bring  desolation  to  the  very 
heart  of  the  human  race! 

Let  us  turn  from  Fiction  to  Science.  On  the 
occasion  of  the  inauguration  of  the  Pasteur  Insti- 
tute in  Paris,  Louis  Pasteur,  in  whose  honor  the 
Institute  was  founded,  enlarged  upon  the  signifi- 
cance of  scientific  research.  Overcome  at  the  recep- 
tion accorded  him  by  the  scholars  and  statesmen  of 
France,  this  great  benefactor  of  mankind  asked 
his  son  to  read  for  him  from  a  manuscript  he  had 
prepared.  In  that  notable  document,  there  ap- 
peared the  following  epoch-marking  paragraph: 

"Two  contrary  laws  seem  to  be  wrestling 
with  each  other  nowadays:  the  one,  a  law  of 
blood  and  of  death,  ever  imagining  new  means 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  5 

of  destruction,  and  forcing  nations  to  be 
constantly  ready  for  tiie  battlefield  —  the 
other,  a  law  of  peace,  work,  and  health,  ever 
evolving  new  means  of  delivering  man  from 
the  scourges  which  beset  him.  The  one  seeks 
violent  conquests,  the  other  the  relief  of 
Humanity.  The  latter  places  one  human  life 
above  any  victory;  while  the  former  would 
sacrifice  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives  to  the 
ambition  of  one." 

This  was  in  1888,  over  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago !  The  utterance  was  unheeded  prophecy  then. 
In  what  measure  that  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled, 
the  world  now  discerns  through  its  tears. 

Mankind  looked  differently  upon  disease  when 
Pasteur's  work  was  ended.  The  germ  theory,  with 
its  interpretation  of  many  ills  in  terms  of  invading 
organisms,  marked  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of 
Medicine.  And  so  will  a  new  era  in  the  progress  of 
Industry  and  Nationality  begin,  when,  in  all  that 
begets  strife  and  hatred  in  human  relations,  men 
come  to  see  disorder  and  ferment  akin  to  that 
evidenced  by  disease.  Pasteur  required  the  aid  of 
the  microscope  to  discover  the  devastating  germs 
within  the  blood;  his  finely  trained  intelligence 
enabled  him  to  perceive  like  factors  and  forces  at 
work  in  the  world.  In  the  light  of  his  preciously 
acquired  scientific  knowledge,  he  saw  the  same 


6  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

conflict  between  individuals,  and  between  nations, 
as  he  had  found  within  the  human  organism.  The 
Law  of  Blood  and  of  Death  was  there,  striving  in- 
sidiously to  undermine  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work, 
and  Health! 

What  of  the  Nations  that  were  unwilling  to 
heed  Pasteur's  warning,  and  waited  to  see  how 
far-reaching  in  their  operation  contending  forces 
might  be!  The  War,  with  all  its  death  and  desola- 
tion, is  no  matter  of  Circumstance  or  Chance;  no 
evil  suddenly  drawn,  like  an  infected  veil,  over 
the  face  of  a  fair  world  at  peace.  It  is  the  hideous 
manifestation  of  contrary  laws  wrestling  in  human 
society,  and  working  the  destruction  of  civilization 
from  within.  Europe,  patient  and  smihng,  till  the 
fatal  moment  came, 

"let  concealment,  like  a  worm  i'  the  bud, 
Feed  on  her  damask  cheek!" 

If  the  War  has  revealed  aught,  it  is  that  there 
are  fundamental  principles  which  should  underlie 
all  conduct  and  organization;  and  that  such  prin- 
ciples cannot  be  ignored  in  human  relations. 

Fortunately,  the  War  has  disclosed,  in  equal 
measure,  man's  readiness  to  recognize  the  illimit- 
able services  of  Science.  It  has  demonstrated  also 
man's  genius,  even  amid  the  wreck  of  nations,  to 
preserve  a  guiding  control,  as  marvellous  as  it  has 
been  disastrous.  In  this  titanic  struggle,  where 
forces  have  contended  on  land,  beneath  and  upon 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  7 

the  sea,  and  in  the  air,  not  for  days,  but  for  years, 
nothing  has  been  left  to  Chance.  Not  a  weapon  has 
been  forged,  not  a  shot  fired,  not  a  command  given, 
not  a  manoeuvre  executed,  but  in  the  mind  of 
some  one,  some  law  of  mechanical  action  or  chemi- 
cal change  has  been  observed,  and  some  principle 
of  the  science  of  military,  naval,  or  aerial  strategy 
obeyed. 

If  men  of  different  origins  have  been  able,  with 
consummate  skill,  amidst  the  fury  of  war,  to  or- 
ganize and  direct  mighty  physical  and  intellec- 
tual forces  to  serve  the  ends  of  Death,  are  the  same 
men  not  equally  capable  of  so  organizing  and  direct- 
ing identical  forces,  that  Life,  instead  of  being  de- 
stroyed, may  be  conserved;  and  that  Life's  possi- 
bilities may  be  realized,  instead  of  being  forever 
extinguished?  Does  Science  exist  only  that  Death 
may  triumph?  Rather,  is  it  not  the  supreme  aim 
of  Science,  "by  obeying  the  law  of  Humanity  to 
extend  the  frontiers  of  hfe"! 

But  for  some  chart  and  compass,  presupposing 
an  order  somewhere  beneath  all  the  apparent  con- 
fusion, effort  at  reconstruction  of  human  relations 
in  their  international  and  industrial  aspects  might 
well  be  abandoned.  In  a  world  devoid  of  unity, 
save  in  the  forces  that  bind  its  jarring  elements 
together,  the  task  of  reconstruction  would  be  so 
vast  as  to  be  impossible.  Fortunately,  the  whole  of 
History  is  replete  with  the  evidences  of  an  under- 


8  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

lying  order.  Philosophic  thought,  combined  with 
scientific  discovery,  is  as  powerful  to  serve  benefi- 
cent as  malignant  ends. 

There  is  no  romance  more  fascinating,  in  the 
annals  of  industrial  economy  and  national  polity, 
than  the  well-known  story  of  James  Watt  and 
Adam  Smith.  Watt,  the  machinist,  had  been  re- 
fused permission  by  the  hammersmiths  of  Glas- 
gow to  practise  his  trade  in  the  city,  because  he 
was  not  a  member  of  their  privileged  corporation. 
Smith,  at  the  time  professor  of  Moral  Philosophy 
at  Glasgow,  gave  him  permission  to  estabhsh  a 
workshop  within  the  buildings  of  the  University. 
While  Smith  pursued  his  studies,  and  wrote  "The 
Wealth  of  Nations,"  Watt  carried  on  experiments 
which  demonstrated  the  power  of  steam  and  led  to 
the  invention  of  the  steam  engine.  The  social  out- 
look of  the  professor  made  possible  the  invention 
of  the  man  he  sought  to  befriend;  and  the  inven- 
tion of  Watt,  more  than  all  else,  made  inevitable 
the  spread  of  those  liberal  doctrines  which  fol- 
lowed the  publication  of  "The  Wealth  of  Nations." 
In  the  case  of  Adam  Smith  and  James  Watt,  the 
study  and  the  laboratory  combined  to  promote 
ideas  and  agencies  which  have  furthered  a  world- 
wide development  of  human  intercourse;  and 
which,  as  respects  both  Industry  and  the  State, 
have  helped  to  substitute  cosmopohtan  for  purely 
national  ideals. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  9 

The  two  are  inseparable:  the  problem  of  the 
State,  and  the  problem  of  Industry!  They  are  but 
different  aspects  of  the  one  world  problem,  the 
essence  of  which  is  the  right  relation  between  In- 
dustry and  Humanity. 

The  power  of  Good  and  Evil  in  whatever  pertains 
to  human  relations  cannot  be  too  clearly  recog- 
nized; neither  can  the  truth  that  such  control  as 
may  be  exercised  concerning  them  dwells,  not  in 
things,  but  in  human  beings.  There  is  nothing  in- 
herently beneficial  or  baneful  in  any  factor,  force, 
or  form  of  organization  to  be  found  in  the  whole 
phenomena  of  Industry  or  the  State.  Everything 
depends  upon  whether  its  use  is,  or  is  not,  made  to 
accord  with  right  ideas  of  social  progress. 

It  is  to  man,  in  his  relations  with  his  fellow  men, 
that  we  have  to  look  for  the  accord  of  forces  and 
institutions  with  right  ideas;  to  man,  "at  once  so 
powerful,  so  virtuous  and  magnificent,  yet  so  vi- 
cious and  base";  appearing  "at  one  time  a  mere 
scion  of  the  evil  principle,  and  at  another  as  all  that 
can  be  conceived  of  as  noble  and  god-like."  It  is 
this  dual  capacity  which  distinguishes  man  from 
the  brute,  and  from  God.  Were  man  never  to  fall, 
he  would  be  a  God;  were  he  never  to  aspire,  he 
would  be  a  brute.  The  genius  which  makes  man 
god-like  in  his  powers  of  human  service  enables 
him  to  become  more  frightful  than  the  monsters  of 
the  brute  creation.  Without  genius,  he  could  be 


10  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

neither.  It  is  the  control  of  his  genius,  the  wisdom 
of  its  direction,  that  determine  which  of  opposing 
ends  man's  actions  are  to  serve.  It  is  equally  so 
with  the  objects  and  forces  his  genius  controls. 

There  would  appear  to  be  no  power  or  capacity 
for  good  without  some  corresponding  power  or 
capacity  for  evil,  and  vice  versa.  The  larger  the 
potential  service  where  a  force  is  made  to  operate 
in  accord  with  right  ideas,  the  greater  its  power  of 
injury  where  there  is  not  this  accord.  Electricity 
uncontrolled  or  miscontrolled  may  destroy  a  com- 
munity; properly  controlled  and  directed,  it  may 
transform  cities  and  towns  with  heat  and  light, 
rapid  means  of  transit  and  communication,  and 
a  thousand  and  one  useful  and  ornamental  de- 
vices. The  purpose  and  the  elfectiveness  of  the 
control  are  everything.  That  is  why,  in  Industry 
and  Politics,  with  human  nature  what  it  is,  control 
should  be  shared  in  by  all  the  interests  involved; 
why  it  should  be  broadly  representative,  and  not 
narrowly  autocratic. 

There  is  nothing  mysterious  about  the  funda- 
mental cause  of  war.  In  the  last  analysis,  it  is  not 
class,  nor  race,  nor  nationality:  —  these  may  hin- 
der, as  well  as  foster  war.  Neither  is  it  adverse 
events,  nor  even  bad  conditions :  —  they  are  only 
signs  and  s^nnptoms.  It  is  what  William  James 
calls   "a  certain  bhndness  in  human  beings,"  the 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  11 

blindness  with  which  we  all  are  afflicted  in  regard 
to  the  feelings  of  creatures  and  peoples  different 
from  ourselves. 

So  clear  and  all  important  is  the  late  Professor 
James's  exposition,  that  I  hasten  to  quote  a  signifi- 
cant passage  or  two  from  his  essay  on  this  subject. 
"We  are,"  he  writes,  "practical  beings,  each  of  us 
with  limited  functions  and  duties  to  perform.  Each 
is  bound  to  feel  intensely  the  importance  of  his  own 
duties  and  the  significance  of  the  situations  that 
call  them  forth.  But  this  feeling  is  in  each  of  us 
a  vital  secret,  for  sympathy  with  which  we  vainly 
look  to  others.  The  others  are  too  much  absorbed 
in  their  own  vital  secrets  to  take  an  interest  in 
ours.  Hence  the  stupidity  and  injustice  of  our 
opinions,  so  far  as  they  deal  with  the  significance 
of  ahen  lives.  Hence  the  falsity  of  our  judgments, 
so  far  as  they  presume  to  decide  in  an  absolute  way 
on  the  value  of  other  persons'  conditions  or  ideals."^ 

Described  in  so  simple  a  way,  this  blindness 
seems  a  very  obvious  and  little  thing.  Yet  the 
forgetting  of  it  lies  at  the  root  of  all  our  intolerance, 
social,  religious,  and  poUtical.  In  the  final  sum- 
ming up  of  things,  it  is  responsible  for  all  unrest; 
for  all  conflict  of  nations  as  well  as  of  men. 

Self-conceit  and  selfishness  make  human  blind- 
ness greater  than  it  ordinarily  is;  environment 

^  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology:  and  to  Students  on  Some  of  Life's 
Ideals,  p.  23i.   New  York,  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  igiB. 


12  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

sometimes  aggravates  it;  ambition  always  intensi- 
fies it.  Thus  it  comes  about,  in  the  course  of  every 
day's  affairs,  that  some  men  become  hardened, 
arrogant,  and  despotic;  the  significance  of  other 
lives  ceases  to  have  a  meaning  for  them.  All  human 
life  may  lose  its  value  through  the  lust  after  power. 
Men  of  the  type  described  come  in  time  to  ignore 
every  principle  of  just  and  humane  relations.  It 
matters  not  whether  the  incentive  be  pride  or 
prejudice,  a  mistaken  zeal  or  a  vile  hate  —  to  such 
men,  once  powerful  enough,  class,  and  race,  and 
nationality  become  but  instruments  for  the  out- 
working of  fanatical  or  devilish  wills.  In  some  ab- 
stract theory  which  furthers  their  own  greed  or 
ambition,  they  find  grounds  for  the  elimination  of 
all  human  considerations.  The  purer  the  instincts, 
the  nobler  the  purposes  of  other  lives,  the  more 
they  prey  upon  these  virtues  to  selfish  ends.  To 
other  men  and  to  other  nations,  they  attribute  their 
own  desires  and  rapacity.  And  so,  ever  imagining 
new  means  of  destruction,  they  force  nations  to 
be  constantly  ready  for  the  battlefield;  and  once 
entering  upon  violent  conquest,  compel  those  who 
would  rid  mankind  of  the  scourges  that  beset  it,  to 
rise,  regardless  of  sacrifice,  and  defend  the  Law  of 
Peace,  Work,  and  Health  against  the  Law  of  Blood 
and  of  Death. 

With  industrial  strife  it  is  just  as  with  interna- 
tional conflict.    Speaking  of  the  Labor  Question, 


f        INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  13 

Professor  James  says:  "One  half  of  our  fellow- 
countrymen  remain  entirely  blind  to  the  internal 
significance  of  the  lives  of  the  other  half.  They 
miss  the  joys  and  sorrows,  they  fail  to  feel  the 
moral  virtue,  and  they  do  not  guess  the  presence 
of  the  intellectual  ideals.  They  are  at  cross-pur- 
poses all  along  the  line,  regarding  each  other  as 
they  might  regard  a  set  of  dangerously  gesticu- 
lating automata,  or,  if  they  seek  to  get  at  the  inner 
motivation,  making  the  most  horrible  mistakes."^ 
In  the  course  of  a  decade,  during  which  time  I 
was  associated  with  the  Department  of  Labor  of 
the  Government  of  Canada,  first  as  Deputy  Min- 
ister of  the  Department,  and  subsequently  as 
Minister,  I  was  called  upon  to  act  as  a  mediator 
in  over  forty  strikes  important  enough  to  warrant 
Government  intervention.  The  disputes  arose  in 
different  parts  of  the  Dominion  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific.  The  industries  concerned  embraced 
agencies  of  transportation  and  communication 
such  as  railroads,  ocean  transport,  street  railways, 
the  telegraph  and  telephone;  coal  and  metallifer- 
ous mining;  and  manufacturing  establishments  of 
various  kinds.  At  that  time,  I  was  brought  into 
close  touch  with  a  much  larger  number  of  con- 
troversies. Quite  often,  ever  since,  I  have  been  privi- 
leged to  see  something  of  important  industrial  dis- 

*  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology :  and  to  Students  on  some  of  Lifers 
Ideals,  p.  297. 


14  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

putes  from  behind  the  scenes.  I  beheve  I  can  say 
that,  without  exception,  every  dispute  and  contro- 
versy of  which  I  have  had  any  intimate  knowledge 
has  owed  its  origin,  and  the  difficulties  pertaining 
to  its  settlement,  not  so  much  to  the  economic 
questions  involved  as  to  this  "certain  blindness 
in  human  beings"  to  matters  of  real  significance 
to  other  lives,  and  an  unwillingness  to  approach 
an  issue  with  any  attempt  at  appreciation  of  the 
fundamental  sameness  of  feelings  and  aspirations 
in  all  human  beings. 

Men  there  are  in  the  ranks  of  both  Capital  and 
Labor,  and  among  the  professed  friends  of  each, 
who  care  for  nothing  quite  as  much  as  their  own 
position  and  importance.  They  see  naught  of  the 
natural  desire  of  other  men  to  govern  themselves; 
they  are  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  principle,  and  to 
foster  prejudice,  in  order  to  gain  power,  whether 
its  expression  be  found  in  position,  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  wealth,  or  in  a  multitude's  applause.  Such 
men,  in  control,  sooner  or  later  bring  disaster  upon 
others;  and  very  often  upon  themselves.  Men  have 
to  be  trained  in  the  use  of  power,  as  they  have  to 
be  trained  in  all  else  that  requires  skill  and  judg- 
ment. Nowhere  is  skill  of  a  high  order  more  re- 
quired than  in  whatever  affects  the  well-being  and 
destiny  of  human  lives. 

The  investor  who  is  indifferent  ^concerning  the 
methods  of  realizing  profits;  the  manager  who 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  15 

refuses  to  meet  representatives  of  Labor,  or  who 
disclaims  responsibility  for  the  acts  of  subordinate 
officials;  the  contractor  who  permits  sub-contrac- 
tors to  resort  to  "sweating";  and  the  corporation 
which  balances  dividends  against  life  and  limb  — 
one  and  all  are  bhnd  to  the  sensibilities  of  other 
lives.  They  permit  evil  forces  to  gather  momen- 
tum, and  destroy  the  very  agencies  by  which  alone 
order  and  progress  are  maintained. 

Human  nature  does  not  change  when  men  be- 
come members  of  boards  of  directors,  or  sit  in  con- 
claves or  cabinets.  An  autocratic  man  will  be  a 
tyrant,  whether  he  be  an  emperor,  the  manager 
of  an  industrial  corporation,  or  the  leader  of  a 
Labor  organization.  Unfortunately,  evil  forces, 
like  beneficent  ones,  expand.  Control  becomes  in- 
creasingly powerful  as  the  area  of  its  authority 
widens. 

Here  is  the  explanation  of  how  men  in  large 
numbers,  and  nations  as  a  whole,  are  drawn  into 
conflict  with  each  other,  and  come  to  hate  each 
other,  when  their  interests  are,  in  reality,  com- 
mon rather  than  antagonistic.  A  few  men  gain 
the  positions  of  control.  They  have,  for  the  time 
being,  immediate  power  over  other  men.  They 
conamand  the  resources.  They  take  the  decisive 
action  which  brings  conflict  in  its  wake.  The  many 
whose  wishes  have  never  been  sought,  and  whose 
voices  have  never  been  heard,   find  themselves 


16  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

opposed  by  forces  that  demand  resistance.  Out 
of  this  attitude,  into  which,  all  unconsciously, 
whole  multitudes  are  drawn,  are  bred  the  fears 
and  the  hatreds  that  solidify  effort  in  the  face 
of  a  common  danger.  In  like  manner  are  bred 
the  mortal  enmities  which  become  a  part  of  the 
thought  of  a  class,  a  race,  or  a  nation.^ 

No  nation,  and  no  organization,  is  wholly  bad, 
any  more  than  any  individual  is  wholly  bad. 
"The  angels  of  light  and  darkness  do  not  preside 
over  different  nations.  They  contend  in  each  for 
victory."  Within  nations  and  organizations,  as 
within  the  lives  of  individuals,  Good  and  Evil  are 
forever  contending.  In  some  nations,  and  in  some 
organizations,  as  in  the  lives  of  some  individuals, 
evil  influences  are  permitted  to  gain  control.  In 
other  nations  and  organizations,  they  are  held 
in  check.  The  horror  of  the  situation  is  that,  in 
individuals,  organizations,  and  nations  alike,  the 
Good,  itself,  once  contaminated,  may  turn  to  Evil. 
The  fallen  angel  may  become  a  malignant  devil. 
Germs  and  vice  increase  in  virulence  in  propor- 
tion to  numerical  support  and  organization.  When 
Evil  is  the  master,  whether  in  the  human  body  or  in 
the  body  poUtic,  the  infection  is  certain  to  spread. 
It  cannot  be  controlled  till  the  forces  that  contend 
against  it  are  able  to  hold  their  own. 

1  Vide  The  War  and  the  Way  Out,  by  G.  Lowes  Dickinson.  The 
Atlantic  Monthly  Co.,  191 5.  Reference  to  this  source  is  hereby  ac- 
knowledged. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  17 

The  time  may  come  when  communities  as  a 
whole  will  be  so  sensitive  to  social  views  that  it 
may  be  possible  to  differentiate  their  conflicting 
elements  as  accurately  as,  in  the  human  body, 
scientists  differentiate  blood  corpuscles  from  path- 
ological germs.  By  a  minute  regard  for  actions  and 
tendencies,  it  may  become  possible  to  brand  those 
individuals  who  are  life-destroying  germs  in  human 
society.  When  that  time  comes,  the  corpuscles  of 
the  body  pohtic  may  combine  as  effectively  to 
destroy  its  pathological  germs,  as,  in  the  human 
body,  white  corpuscles  combine,  and  seek  to  de- 
stroy the  germs  of  disease.  Meanwhile,  it  is  well 
to  realize  that,  for  Good  to  triumph  in  human 
affairs.  Evil  somehow  must  be  held  in  check.  In 
this  conflict,  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  neu- 
trality. In  the  last  analysis,  each  member  of  so- 
ciety, by  his  every  act,  is  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously augmenting  one  or  other  of  the  opposing 
forces  Pasteur  has  revealed. 

Which  of  the  Contrary  Laws  will  ultimately  pre- 
vail will  depend  upon  the  outcome  of  their  wres- 
tling in  human  lives,  and  upon  the  outcome  of  the 
wresthng  of  individual  wifls  one  with  another. 
Resistance  to  evil  is  strengthened  by  struggle. 
Without  persistent  endeavor,  atrophy  is  certain  to 
follow.  Not  to  act  heroically  in  whatever  pertains 
to  pohtical  and  industrial  well-being,  is,  by  so 
much,  to  forsake  the  forces  which  seek  to  relieve 


18  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

mankind  from  the  scourges  that  beset  it,  and  to 
aid  the  forces  which  seek  their  satisfaction  in 
Blood  and  Death.  It  is  not  to  a  hfe  of  repose,  but 
to  one  of  vigorous  action,  that  the  call  comes  to 
the  men  and  women  who  love  Peace,  Work,  and 
Health,  and  who  would  conserve  these  blessings 
for  mankind. 

If,  through  apathy  or  other  cause,  any  people 
permit  the  control  of  Government,  or  the  control 
of  forces  that  sway  Government,  in  either  the 
State  or  Industry,  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  those 
who  seek  domination,  and  who  are  prepared  to 
play  upon  passions,  prejudices,  and  fears,  rather 
than  appeal  to  just  sentiments  in  the  breasts  of 
men,  one  consequence  only  can  result:  Freedom 
will  be  instantly  imperilled. 

The  unrelenting  operation  of  the  Contrary  Laws 
discloses  wherein  the  cause  of  Humanity  is  one. 
With  agencies  furthering  destruction  and  seeking 
conquest,  active  or  latent  in  the  world,  no  nation 
can  afford  to  be  indifferent  to  its  own  security,  or 
to  the  security  of  other  nations  that  cherish  ideals 
of  freedom  similar  to  its  own.  Let  the  forces  of 
Blood  and  of  Death  have  their  way  in  one  quarter 
of  the  globe,  and  the  forces  that  make  for  Peace, 
Work,  and  Health  are  everywhere  threatened. 

The  situation  cannot  be  too  fearlessly  stated, 
nor  its  possibilities  too  conspicuously  pointed  out. 
After  the  world's  tragic  experience  in  its  interna- 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  19 

tional  relations,  countries  may  well  pray  to  be 
spared  like  affliction  from  like  cause  in  the  domain 
of  Industry.  With  any  similarity  between  the 
causes  underlying  industrial  and  international 
strife,  to  fail  to  look  squarely  at  every  fact  and 
possibility,  is  to  be  shamefully  indifferent  to  the 
well-being  of  mankind.  It  is  wise,  therefore,  to  re- 
member that  intermittent  evidences  of  industrial 
unrest  are  symptomatic  of  the  workings  of  hidden 
forces,  prolonged  indifference  to  which  may  sooner 
or  later  provoke  unparalleled  disaster. 

Countries  cannot  continue  to  watch  antagonistic 
groups  in  Industry  assume  the  proportions  and 
attitudes  of  vast  opposing  armies,  without  some 
day  witnessing  conflict  commensurable  with  the 
strength  of  these  rival  aggregations.  If,  to-day, 
nation  can  rise  against  nation,  under  the  incitement 
of  ambition,  or  fear,  or  cherished  ideals;  if,  over- 
night, men  of  all  classes  can  be  led  to  forget  differ- 
ences and  remember  only  the  flag  which  typifies 
unity;  with  human  nature  what  it  is,  is  there  not 
also  the  possibility  that  men  may  be  equally  willing 
to  sacrifice  their  lives,  through  forgetting  unity 
and  remembering  only  differences,  under  impulses 
of  fear,  of  love,  and  of  hate,  not  one  whit  less  real, 
and  which  have  been  cherished  just  as  ardently, 
just  as  secretly,  and  just  as  long?  In  many  par- 
ticulars,  the   horrors   of   international  war  pale 


20  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

before  the  possibilities  of  civil  conflicts  begotten 
of  class  hatreds.  This,  the  world  is  witnessing, 
even  now! 

To  assume  that  anything  so  appalling  as  wide- 
spread industrial  war  may  not  come  to  pass,  in 
any  country,  is  to  be  wilfully  blind  to  present 
occurrences.  It  is  to  overlook  the  temper  which 
the  War,  itself,  is  helping  to  create.  It  is  to  forget 
how  quickly  a  wave  of  passion  may  sweep  over  an 
entire  continent  and  that  congestion  in  densely 
populated  cities  makes  possible  the  worst  atroci- 
ties of  revolution.  For  most  communities,  isola- 
tion, once  a  factor  in  limiting  destruction,  no  longer 
exists. 

At  a  gathering  of  the  Economic  Club  in  New 
York  City,  on  the  11th  of  December,  1916,  the 
president  of  one  of  the  Railroad  Brotherhoods  did 
not  hesitate  to  speak,  before  some  twelve  hundred 
persons,  of  the  possibihty  of  vast  industrial  conflict 
at  the  present  time.  The  circumstance  that  the 
speaker,  himself,  was  known  to  be  one  of  the  truest 
and  best  of  men;  that  the  Labor  Organization  he 
represented  was  one  of  the  largest,  and  generally 
conceded  to  be  one  of  the  most  conservative  in 
America;  and  the  fact  that  the  address  had  refer- 
ence to  the  probable  enactment  of  legislation  pro- 
posed to  Congress  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  all  indicate  that  the  words  spoken  were  in- 
tended as  significant  in  a  national  crisis. 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  21 

"Industrial  war,"  said  this  Leader  of  Organized 
Labor,  "is  precisely  of  the  same  character  as 
actual  war.  No  battle  has  been  fought  in  establish- 
ing the  rights  of  mankind,  either  real  or  fancied, 
where  the  hospital  has  n't  been  filled  afterwards, 
and  the  corpses  left  upon  the  field.  And  it  is  just 
so  in  industrial  war.  If  you  complain  that  four 
hundred  thousand  men  held  up  the  Government, 
what  will  eighty  millions  of  them  do,  if  they  can, 
to  hold  up  the  Government?"  Referring  then  to 
the  possibility  of  immediate  industrial  war,  the 
speaker  added:  "If  it  comes,  it  will  come  in  a  way 
that  will  make  it  overshadow  all  former  industrial 
upheavals,  precisely  as  the  present  war  blots  out 
of  existence  virtually  all  of  the  wars  that  preceded 
it."i 

In  the  formation  of  their  stupendous  organi- 
zations, Labor  and  Capital  are  acting  under  the 
stress  of  economic  pressure.  Each  is  quite  sincere 
in  asserting  that  its  ever-increasing  power  is  be- 
gotten of  no  ill-intention  toward  the  other,  but 
only  of  a  natural  desire  for  protection  of  itself. 
This,  however,  does  not  alter  the  momentous  fact 
that,  listening  to  precisely  the  same  professions 
from  nations  which  year  by  year  continued  to 
perfect  organization  and  increase  potential  fight- 
ing strength,  the  world  has  witnessed  the  most 

1  "Garretson  Warns  of  Revolution  if  Military  Law  to  Prevent 
Rail  Strikes  is  passed  by  Congress."  The  Evening  Mail,  New  York, 
December  12,  1916. , 


22  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

profound  tragedy  in  the  whole  of  human  history. 
Can  mankind  be  indifferent  to  the  possibihty  of 
further  sacrifice?  Shall  Industry,  the  basis  of 
material  existence,  Mke  Nationality,  the  largest, 
and,  thus  far,  the  noblest  expression  of  social  or- 
ganization, be  permitted  a  perverse  development 
which  may  make  of  it,  likewise,  an  all-powerful 
agency  in  human  destruction? 

The  parallel  between  the  enmities  of  rival  states, 
fostered  by  and  fostering  fear  and  suspicion,  and 
the  enmities  of  gigantic  aggregations  of  Capital 
and  Labor,  similarly  begotten  and  fostered,  is  so 
plain  that  one  wonders  how  it  can  possibly  be  over- 
looked. I  know  that  the  analogy  between  states 
and  groups  of  individuals  is  not  perfect.  But  where 
all  the  significant  and  essential  features  are  iden- 
tical, is  there  not  sufficient  analogy  to  occasion 
pause?  How  ominous,  in  every  detail,  is  the  par- 
allel between  international  conflict  and  industrial 
conflict!  There  is  no  parallel  of  like  import  any- 
where. In  origin,  in  method  of  procedure,  and  in 
consequences,  industrial  and  international  strife 
are  akin.  Differences,  where  they  occur,  are  in 
degree  rather  than  in  kind.  Even  the  language 
and  artifices  of  their  diplomacies  are  the  same! 

The  assassination,  at  Sarajevo,  on  June  28, 
1914,  of  the  Grand  Duke  Ferdinand  by  a  youth 
of  eighteen,  became  by  July  23  the  pretext  for  the 
ultimatum  handed  by  the  Austrian  Government 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  23 

to  Serbia.  That  ultimatum  marks  the  commence- 
ment of  the  War.  It  contained  demands  known  to 
be  excessive.  It  was  designed  for  rejection.  How 
many  industrial  conflicts  have  had  beginnings  pre- 
cisely analogous!  The  arrogance  of  some  "petty 
boss,"  the  presence  of  some  "walking  delegate," 
the  arbitrary  dismissal  of  an  employee,  or  the  re- 
fusal to  reinstate  an  officer  of  a  Trade  Union :  — 
one  or  other  of  these,  and  many  a  lesser  incident, 
has  been  made,  after  the  lapse  of  weeks,  a  pretext 
for  the  presentation  of  demands  never  believed 
nor  intended  to  admit  of  acceptance.  As  with 
Austria's  peremptory  proposal  to  have  her  judges 
given  authority  in  the  courts  of  Serbia,  a  demand 
which  touched  Serbia's  very  existence  as  an  inde- 
pendent state,  so  in  many  an  industrial  ultimatum, 
requests  have  been  made  which  obviously  could 
not  have  been  conceded  without  humiliating  sur- 
render. 

It  will  be  recalled  how  the  Austrian  ultimatum 
included  a  time-limit,  so  short  (forty-eight  hours) 
as  to  leave  diplomacy  little  opportunity  to  avert 
war.  So  brief  was  the  time,  that  all  attempts  by 
the  Powers  at  conciUation,  mediation,  and  arbitra- 
tion were  rendered  nugatory.  How  often  has  this 
been  the  method  of  presentation  of  ultimatums 
in  labor  troubles!  Indeed,  it  has  not  infrequently 
been  considered  the  only  method  once  a  strike  or 
lockout  was  decided  upon.  And  the  alleged  reasons 


24  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

for  frustrating  intervention,  have  they  not  been 
the  same;  namely,  that  delay  would  afford  the 
other  side  opportunity  to  prepare  for  the  fight? 

As  was  the  case  with  the  nations  in  Europe,  do 
not  the  parties  to  industrial  conflicts,  till  the  very 
moment  of  severed  relations,  profess  a  desire  for 
peace;  a  wish  to  avoid  strife;  a  willingness  to  allow 
friendly  mediation?  Does  not  one  party,  very 
often,  concern  itself  solely  with  its  own  intentions, 
just  as  deliberately  as  Austria  and  as  Germany  did, 
wholly  indifferent  to  the  overtures  of  the  other? 
Are  not  evasive  replies  always  a  part  of  the  whole 
wretched  business?  Does  not  one  or  other  of  the 
parties,  just  as  Germany  did,  so  shift  its  position 
as  to  make  all  intervention  impossible?  Further- 
more, are  not  the  parties  to  industrial  conflicts  as 
indifferent  to  the  rights  of  the  public  as  belligerents 
sometimes  are  to  the  rights  of  neutrals?  And  does 
not  the  sympathetic  strike  or  lockout  resemble  al- 
lied support  between  nations?  Back  of  most  of 
the  great  labor  conflicts,  has  there  not  been,  as 
respects  each  of  the  parties,  just  as  with  the  par- 
ticipants in  the  present  War,  a  behef  in  abihty  to 
command  resources  in  men  and  money  sufficient 
to  win,  no  matter  how  prolonged  the  struggle?  In 
the  one  case  as  in  the  other,  do  not  a  very  few 
men  have  the  determining  voice;  and  does  not  the 
fate  of  all  hang  upon  the  ambitions,  actions,  and 
decisions  of  these  few? 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  25 

It  is  unnecessary  to  carry  the  parallel  further. 
Once  the  struggle  has  begun,  be  the  conflict  in- 
ternational or  industrial,  the  effort  to  gain  victory 
through  loss  inflicted  is  the  same.  Loss  may  be 
greater  in  war  between  nations,  since  war  means 
avowedly  the  loss  of  life,  as  well  as  of  property; 
but,  in  each  case,  what  fundamentally  is  aimed  at  is 
a  loss  of  power,  whether  effected  positively  through 
active  destruction,  or  negatively,  through  thwart- 
ing production.  Unfortunately,  it  cannot  be  said 
that  even  this  difference  is  always  maintained. 
There  have  been  industrial  conflicts  in  which  the 
methods  of  warfare  employed  have  been  identical 
with  those  in  international  strife.  America  has 
witnessed  conflicts  between  Capital  and  Labor 
where  strikers  have  been  nearly  as  well  provided 
with  rifles  and  ammunition,  as  the  State  Militia 
that  opposed  them.  The  presence  of  encampments 
and  the  use  of  machine  guns  have  helped  to  accord 
opposing  factions  an  appearance  differing  but  little 
from  that  of  army  detacliments  in  times  of  actual 
war.  Where  in  such  cases  life  has  been  taken,  what 
compensation  has  equaUed  the  loss? 

Legacies  of  hatred  and  ill-will,  whether  inherited 
from  industrial  or  from  international  strife;  dis- 
tress and  debt,  whether  incurred  by  the  one  or  the 
other,  differ  in  degree  only,  and  not  in  kind.  What 
of  it  all  finally?  Sooner  or  later,  peace  must  be 
restored,  for  war  cannot  go  on  forever,  whether  it 


26  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

be  industrial  or  international.  Capital  and  Labor, 
Nation  and  Nation,  must  come  to  terms  of  settle- 
ment or  all  alike  be  ruined.  Ultimately,  Force 
must  give  way  to  Reason.  Common  as  contrasted 
with  opposed  interests  must  be  recognized.  But 
where  has  there  been  settlement  of  any  great 
conflict  which  has  not  meant  much  of  loss  to  each 
of  the  parties?  And  where  are  the  gains  which 
have  come  through  conflict,  that  would  not  have 
been  the  greater  if  otherwise  obtained?  At  what 
cost  always  is  Reason  denied  her  rightful  sway! 

So  far  have  men  in  this  age  reverted  to  a  worship 
of  Moloch,  and  mistaken  gods  of  their  own  making 
for  the  higher  ends  of  existence,  that  sacrifice  of  hu- 
man lives  is  commonly  asserted  to  be  essential  to 
the  needs  of  Nationality  and  Industry.  Sacrifice  of 
life  to  noble  and  imperative  ends  is,  and  ever  will 
remain,  an  inevitable  incident  of  Progress.  There  is 
a  vast  difference,  however,  between  lives  given  that 
a  principle  may  be  maintained,  and  lives  taken  that 
Ambition  may  be  fed.  If  Progress  worthy  of  the 
name  is  to  be  achieved,  it  will  never  be  through 
gains  reaped  by  some  at  the  expense  of  others.  It 
will  be  in  the  sacrifice  and  the  advance  which  have 
regard  for  the  well-being  of  the  whole. 

For  Industry  and  Nationality  alike,  the  last 
word  lies  in  the  supremacy  of  Humanity.  "Over 
all  nations  is  Humanity."  Of  more  worth  than  all 


INDUSTRIAL  UNREST  27 

else  man  can  achieve  is  the  well-being  of  mankind. 
The  national  or  industrial  economy  based  on  a 
lesser  vision,  in  the  final  analysis,  is  anti-social, 
and  lacks  the  essentials  of  indefinite  expansion 
and  durability.  The  failure  to  look  beyond  the 
State,  and  beyond  Industry  as  a  revenue-produc- 
ing process,  has  brought  chaos  instead  of  order. 
To  glorify  institutions,  regardless  of  the  men, 
women,  and  children  whose  individual  existences 
they  were  meant  to  serve,  is  to  negative,  not  to 
promote  progress. 

The  sacredness  of  human  personality  is  more 
important  than  all  other  considerations.  Without 
infinite  regard  for  individual  life,  however  obscure 
or  deformed,  expressions  of  social  values  are  mean- 
ingless. Estimates  of  national  power,  pride  in  in- 
dustrial growth,  forecasts  of  world  expansion:  — 
any  and  all  of  these  which  reckon  material  gains 
apart  from  the  human  losses  they  involve,  mistake 
for  Life  itself  the  coarse  texture  of  but  a  part  of 
the  garment  of  Life. 

Because  the  peoples  of  the  world  are  affected 
more  generally,  and  more  continuously  and  inti- 
mately, by  industrial  relations  than  by  international 
relations,  it  may  well  be  that  the  solution  of  in- 
ternational problems  will  come  about  only  with 
the  solution  of  the  problems  of  Industry.  Nations 
have  failed  through  conflict  to  widen  the  circle  of 


28  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

international  good-will.  In  the  co-operation  of  the 
parties  to  Industry  along  intelligent  Unes,  they 
may  yet  be  led  to  an  application  of  principles 
which,  governing  in  all  human  relations,  will  best 
promote  the  well-being  of  mankind. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  WORLD  ASPECT 

The  War,  momentous  in  every  way,  has  helped 
to  demonstrate  the  unity  underlying  human  rela- 
tions. Its  world  scale  but  reflects  the  expansion 
in  Industry  and  International  PoHty.  It  is  essential 
to  recognize  the  cosmopoUtan  trend  in  order  to 
view  the  problem  of  Labor  and  Capital  in  true 
perspective.  It  is  no  longer  a  local  problem,  or 
even  a  national  problem,  as  often  assumed,  but 
an  international  problem  of  the  first  magnitude. 
Industrial  and  international  relations  are  the 
warp  and  woof  of  modern  world  intercourse.  They 
constitute  the  obverse  and  reverse  of  a  world 
problem  of  human  relations  in  which  political 
and  industrial  considerations  are  inseparably  inter- 
twined. It  is  the  scale  and  intimacy  of  this  rela- 
tionship that  distinguishes  the  Labor  Problem  of 
to-day  from  the  problem  as  it  has  existed  at  any 
previous  time. 

Nor  is  the  problem  of  Labor  and  Capital  any 
longer  one  which  concerns  only,  or  even  mainly, 
these  two  essential  parties  to  production.  As 
never  before,  it  is  a  Community  problem,  and  a 
Community  gradually  expanding  to  the  utmost 


30  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

limits  of  human  society.^  The  expressions,  "the 
Labor  Problem,"  "the  Problem  of  Capital  and  La- 
bor," are  wholly  inadequate  to  suggest  the  com- 
prehensive nature  of  considerations  of  which  ac- 
count must  be  taken,  if  the  well-being  of  persons 
engaged  in  Industry  is  to  be  promoted  with  any 
promise  of  enduring  results.  They  are  equally  in- 
sufficient to  convey  any  idea  of  the  bearing  of  the 
problems  of  Industry  upon  the  whole  of  social  life. 
Industry  does  not  affect  wage-earners  merely  as 
persons  possessing  labor  which  they  dispose  of  on 
a  basis  of  time,  skill,  and  energy.  For  most  men 
and  women,  the  conditions  which  surround  In- 
dustry, and  the  output  of  Industry,  represent  all 
that  is  possible  for  them  in  the  way  of  health, 
happiness,  and  Ufe  itself.  Both  as  consumers  and 
producers,  they  are  affected  by  all  that  affects 
production.  Their  position,  industrially,  touches 
at  some  point,  and  usually  more  than  touches, 
is  indeed  interwoven  with,  every  relationship  of 
their  lives.  It  is  as  members  of  communities  that 
the  workers  experience  the  pressure  of  economic 

1  Industries  and  countries,  as  regards  their  social  problems,  can 
no  longer  be  studied  as  isolated  phenomena.  In  a  consideration  of 
social  problems  the  place  of  the  Nation  must  be  taken  by  some  other 
term;  one  that  will  admit  of  contraction  and  expansion  as  existing 
circumstances  demand.  The  term  "Community"  possesses  merits 
superior  in  this  regard  to  those  of  any  other  available  word.  It 
is,  in  fact,  the  only  really  appropriate  term  to  employ  in  seeking  to 
emphasize  the  area  within  which  a  people  share  a  common  interest 
with  respect  to  the  subject  under  consideration.  In  this  sense  it  is 
employed  throughout  the  present  treatise. 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  31 

conditions.  As  the  community  circle  widens,  the 
sum  of  influences  affecting  the  well-being  of  its 
members  is  increased.  As  the  circle  of  industrial 
relations  widens,  the  sensitiveness  of  the  inter- 
relationship between  Industry  and  the  Commu- 
nity is  correspondingly  increased.  As  both  expand 
beyond  the  radius  of  local  and  national  bounds, 
and  become  increasingly  cosmopolitan  in  charac- 
ter and  scope,  world  influences  hitherto  unknown 
come  into  play.  Whole  communities  and  whole 
industries  are  affected,  with  surprising  suddenness, 
by  influences  sometimes  favoring,  sometimes  jeop- 
ardizing the  employment  of  tens  and  even  hun- 
dreds of  thousands.  Against  world  movements, 
affecting  both  Capital  and  Labor,  local  barriers 
avail  not  at  all,  and  national  barriers  tend  to 
avail  less  and  less.  For  Capital  and  Labor  and 
the  Communities  to  which  they  belong,  the  large 
adjustment  of  industrial  relations  has  become  a 
world  problem. 

Two  years  before  the  United  States  entered  the 
War,  Mr.  Owen  Wister  wrote:  "To  speak  of  the 
Old  World  and  the  New  World  is  to  speak  in  a 
dead  language.  The  world  is  one.  All  humanity  is 
in  the  same  boat.  The  passengers  multiply  but 
the  boat  remains  the  same  size.  And  people  who 
rock  the  boat  must  be  stopped  by  force.  America 
can  no  more  separate  itself  from  the  destiny  of 
Europe  than  it  can  escape  the  natural  laws  of  the 


32  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

universe."^  And  so  it  proved,  to  the  extent  of 
America's  participation  in  the  War.  Altered  con- 
ditions in  any  one  part  of  the  world  soon  produce 
changes  elsewhere.  The  expansion  of  Industry  has 
rendered  this  inevitable. 

The  inseparableness  of  industrial  and  political 
considerations,  of  industrial  well-being  and  foreign 
pohcy,  is  a  consequence  of  the  gradual  evolution 
toward  world  expansion  in  Industry,  and  inter- 
nationalism in  Politics.  A  glance  at  this  evolution 
may  help  to  reveal  the  significance  of  changed  con- 
ditions, and  the  necessity  of  meeting  new  con- 
ditions by  new  methods.  So  long  as  the  Labor 
Problem  was  a  local  one,  or  even  a  problem  involv- 
ing communities  of  appreciable  size,  the  attempt  to 
solve  differences  by  a  trial  of  strength  between  the 
parties  may  have  been  crude,  primitive  and  unjust, 
but  the  ill-effects  and  injustices  of  such  a  method 
were  more  or  less  confined  to  the  immediate  par- 
ticipants. To-day,  it  is  not  individuals  or  isolated 
localities,  but  very  often  entire  countries  that  are 
affected  by  disputes  between  Capital  and  Labor 
where'  strikes  and  lockouts  are  the  methods  em- 
ployed to  bring  about  industrial  adjustments.^ 

1  The  Pentecost  of  Calamity. 

2  I  desire  to  acknowledge  the  free  use  made,  in  the  outline  of  the 
evolution  of  Industry  and  Nationality  which  follows,  of  notes  taken 
while  at  Harvard  University  from  courses  of  lectures  delivered  dur- 
ing 1898-99  by  Rev,  William  Cunningham,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Fellow 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  33 

In  the  increased  "mobility"  of  Capital  and 
Labor  which  Discovery  and  Invention  have  ef- 
fected, will  be  found  the  key  to  expansion  and 
internationalism  in  Industry  and  Politics.  Ancient 
and  mediaeval  civihzations  differ  from  modern  in 
that  their  many  activities  were  markedly  circum- 
scribed. Contrasted  with  the  present,  theirs  was 
a  society  essentially  stationary.  In  a  thousand 
and  one  respects,  whether  for  good  or  ill,  variety 
has  replaced  monotony  in  community  interests, 
and  in  the  daily  round  of  living;  in  industrial  re- 
lations especially,  there  was,  until  comparatively 
recent  times,  a  "fixity"  very  different  from  the 
"fluidity"  of  to-day.  It  is  this  transition  from  an 
unchanging  social  order  to  one  permeated  with 
constant  change,  a  transition  in  industrial  relations 
from  "certainty"  to  "uncertainty,"  from  "stabil- 
ity" to  "instability,"  that  makes  the  Labor  Prob- 
lem of  to-day  wholly  different  in  kind  from  the 
comparatively  simple  one  where  the  issues  between 
employer  and  employee  were  such  as  arose  in  the 
immediate  personal  relations  of  master  and  jour- 
ne^Tiian,  master  and  servant,  or  master  and  slave. 

The  change  in  industrial  relations  has  paralleled 
a  change  in  civic  and  national  polity.   Which  has 

and  Lecturer  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  England,  and  of  the 
following  treatises  by  that  distinguished  author:  Outlines  of  Eng- 
lish Industrial  History,  New  York,  Macmillan  Co.,  iSgB;  Western 
Civilization  —  Modern  Times,  Cambridge,  The  University  Press, 
1900;  Western  Civilization  —  Ancient  Times,  Cambridge,  The  Uni- 
versity Press,  191 1. 


34  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

determined  the  other,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
say.  They  are,  and  always  have  been,  inextricably 
interwoven.  Sometimes  far-sighted  pubUc  pohcy 
has  produced  a  development  in  Industry  which  has 
left  its  impress  on  world  affairs.  At  other  times, 
industrial  changes  have  shattered  the  restrictions 
of  policy,  and  have  revolutionized  theory  as  well 
as  conditions. 

The  basis  of  industrial  organization  has  under- 
gone continuous  expansion.  Originally,  the  small- 
est unit  of  society  for  economic  purposes  was  the 
self-sufTicing  household.  This  basis  has  broadened 
through  the  centuries  until  the  bounds  of  nation- 
ality no  longer  suffice  to  give  it  unity.  The  family, 
the  city,  and  the  nation  has  each,  in  the  order  named, 
been  outstanding  as  a  main  type  of  social  struc- 
ture; each,  at  one  time  or  another,  has  been  the 
unit  of  industrial  organization.  Each  remains  a 
contributing  factor  to  the  well-being  of  society, 
but  as  controlling  units  of  economic  organization, 
the  smaller  entities  have  become  more  or  less  ab- 
sorbed in  the  larger.  The  largest  of  all,  the  na- 
tional, has  ceased  to  be  a  final  form  in  economic 
development,  and  is  gradually  being  superseded 
by  a  cosmopolitan  type.  It  is  hardly  to  be  doubted 
that  the  War  will  mark  the  transition  to  a  con- 
scious international  polity. 

In  Europe  it  is  possible  to  trace  the  expansion 
as  it  developed  in  the  course  of  the  centuries. 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  35 

The  "City  State"  of  the  Greeks  is  classic  as  the 
illustration  of  Greek  civilization  at  its  highest. 
The  self-sufTicing  towns  and  cities,  wherever  they 
superseded  the  self-sufficing  households,  continued 
as  the  centres  of  social  and  industrial  activity  al- 
most until  modern  times.  We  speak  of  countries 
and  of  empires,  but  in  the  ancient  and  mediaeval 
world,  as  Dr.  William  Cunningham,  of  Cambridge, 
England,  has  pointed  out,  they  represent,  in  any 
true  sense  of  the  word,  geographical  rather  than 
pohtical  entities.  1  The  unity  that  underlay  the 
Roman  Empire  was  one  of  law  and  order  and  mil- 
itary organization,  and  the  unity  that  underlay 
mediaeval  Christendom  was  one  of  clerical  organi- 
zation and  a  common  religious  life  and  sentiment. 
It  was  not  until  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies that  the  concentration  of  civilization  in  the 
towns  and  cities  began  to  give  way  to  the  rise  of 
nationalities,  and  the  question  of  national  unity 
came  to  be  one  of  supreme  importance.  Not  until 
Columbus  had  discovered  America,  and  Vasco  de 
Gama  had  rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  did  the 
towns  and  cities  of  Europe  cease  to  exercise  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  or  to  be  the  units  of  industrial 
and  commercial  organization  which  gave  similarity 
in  type  to  the  mediaeval  and  ancient  worlds.  The 
nation  as  the  basis  of  economic  regulation  is  a  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  the  modern  world. 

1  Western  Civilization  —  Modern  Times,  Introduction. 


36  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

The  rise  and  development  of  the  large-scale 
organization  of  Industry  paralleled  the  rise  and 
growth  in  power  of  individual  nations.  The  one 
has  been  inseparable  from  the  other,  and  each  has 
been  linked  to  the  progress  of  Trade.  The  discov- 
ery of  America  and  the  new  route  to  the  East  Indies 
revealed  unparalleled  opportunities  of  increase  in 
wealth  and  trade,  and  unthought-of  possibilities  of 
commercial  intercourse  and  colonization. 

The  Era  of  Discovery  of  the  world's  continents, 
by  opening  up  distant  parts  as  sources  of  treasure 
and  raw  materials  and  as  markets  for  the  sale  of 
manufactured  and  other  products,  was  followed 
by  a  period  of  expansion  in  Commerce  and  Col- 
onization. Commerce,  from  being  localized  and 
pursuing  accustomed  routes,  expanded  in  all  di- 
rections, and  from  being  European  only,  became 
world-wide.  By  1760  England  had  gained  a  world- 
wide Commerce.  The  reaction  upon  Industry  was 
inevitable.  The  increase  in  wealth  consequent 
upon  distant  trading  tended  to  further  the  growth 
of  capital  and  to  promote  national  economic  pol- 
icies, and  in  turn  was  itself  furthered  by  them. 
Distant  trading  stimulated  the  desire  to  manu- 
facture on  a  large  scale  and  more  cheaply;  and 
with  new  markets  opening  in  every  direction,  and 
opportunities  thereby  afforded  of  working  on  a 
large  scale.  Industry,  from  being  organized  to  serve 
local  needs,  came  more  and  more  to  develop  on  a 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  37 

capitalistic  basis.  Restrictions  were  broken  down, 
and  commercial  policies  changed  from  being  con- 
cerned with  home  markets  to  having  in  view  the 
development  of  export  trade.  In  contemplating 
industrial  relations,  this  world  development  of  in- 
dustrial organization  is  of  the  utmost  significance. 
Any  plan  or  pohcy  which  ignores  it,  omits  a  fun- 
damental consideration. 

Dr.  Cunningham  has  shown  how  comparatively 
recent  has  been  the  consummation  of  the  change 
from  payment  of  dues  in  kind  and  personal  service, 
to  their  payment  in  money,  and  the  change  from 
a  barter  to  a  money  system  in  exchange.^  He 
has  observed  that,  till  the  substitution  had  come 
about,  "capital,"  as  we  understand  the  term,  could 
and  did  play  but  little  part  in  the  development  of 
Industry.  Once  treasure  and  accumulations  came 
to  discharge  the  functions  which  savings  are  put 
to  in  the  present  day,  and  wealth  instead  of  be- 
ing hoarded  began  to  be  "invested,"  a  new  power 
arose  of  vast  significance  to  Industry  and  Inter- 
national Polity  alike.  Capital,  says  Dr.  Cunning- 
ham, implies  the  existence  of  a  fund  of  money 
which  can  be  utilized  in  any  direction  and  trans- 
ported with  comparative  ease  from  place  to  place. 
So  long  as  a  natural  economy  prevailed,  there 
might  be  accumulations  of  wealth,  stores  of  many 

^  Western  Civilization,  chap,  ii,  "  Natural  and  Money  Economy; " 
Outlines  of  English  Industrial  History,  chap,  vii,  "  Money,  Credit,  eind 
Finance." 


38  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

kinds  and  stocks  for  carrying  on  Industry,  but 
there  was  not  capital  or  commercial  credit  in  the 
modern  usage  of  these  terms.  A  money  economy 
made  possible  the  far-reaching  development  of  the 
capitalistic  or  large-scale  organization  in  Industry. 
It  was  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
that  capital  began  to  emerge,  and  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  that  commerce  came  to  be  a  recog- 
nized object  not  only  of  local  but  of  national  im- 
portance. Wherever  an  industry  was  drawn  into 
the  circle  of  distant  trading  interests,  there  was 
a  tendency  in  favor  of  the  introduction  of  the 
capitalistic  organization.  Where  Industry  was  or- 
ganized with  regard  to  the  requirements  of  the  city 
market,  small  independent  masters  might  hope 
so  to  regulate  existing  trade  as  each  to  share  in 
rather  than  extend  it;  but  once  trade  ceased  to 
be  local  and  came  to  have  relation  to  other  and 
distant  markets,  it  was  inevitable  that  the  form 
of  industrial  organization  should  also  change  and 
the  small  masters  be  superseded  by  the  capitalist 
employer. 

Important  as  was  the  Era  of  Discovery  upon 
Commerce,  Industry,  and  National  Policy,  its  sig- 
nificance in  all  these  respects  was  enhanced  by 
the  age  of  Invention  of  which  it  w^as  the  forerun- 
ner, and  to  which  it  contributed.  As  an  epoch  of 
change  and  development,  the  age  of  Invention 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  39 

was  of  even  greater  importance  in  the  world's  his- 
tory than  the  Era  of  Discovery.  The  discoveries 
of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  gave  new 
knowledge  of  the  surface  of  the  globe,  and  its 
resources  and  possibilities.  The  remarkable  series 
of  inventions  which  came  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  afforded  new  knowledge  of  the 
physical  forces  of  nature  and  their  practical  ap- 
phcation.  Nature  and  its  inherent  powers  were 
brought  as  never  before  under  man's  control,  to  be 
made  more  and  more  the  servants  of  his  will. 
In  the  light  of  the  new  knowledge  consequent  upon 
the  advance  in  the  physical  and  chemical  sciences, 
new  mechanical  appliances  and  new  industrial 
processes  were  introduced,  and  with  them  new 
methods  of  organization  and  business  administra- 
tion. Industry  and  Society  became  reconstructed 
on  a  capitahstic  basis. 

So  important  and  far-reaching  were  the  changes 
which  mechanical  inventions  effected,  that  wher- 
ever they  have  been  generally  applied,  they  have 
revolutionized  Industry.  Their  apphcation  came 
first  in  England,  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  By  1850  the  new  industrial 
forces  had  become  generally  appUed.  The  period 
of  transition  has  come  to  be  known  as  that  of  the 
Industrial  Revolution.  From  England,  the  knowl- 
edge of  these  inventions  and  their  practical  applica- 
tion has  spread  to  other  lands.    Its  diffusion  still 


40  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

continues.  Gradually,  it  is  extending  throughout 
the  globe.  Wherever  it  has  spread,  so  vast  have 
been  the  changes  in  the  methods  of  production, 
that  they  have  altered  the  whole  face  of  Industry, 
and  with  it  the  relations  between  its  contributing 
parties.  Here  is  another  fundamental  factor  of 
which  account  must  be  taken  in  considering  indus- 
trial relations.  The  hand  of  Invention  cannot  be 
stayed. 

The  changes  which,  taken  collectively,  have 
revolutionized  modern  Industry  may  be  grouped 
broadly  as  changes  in  the  mechanical  arts,  in  in- 
dustrial organization,  in  the  division  of  industrial 
processes,  and  in  industrial  areas.  The  mechanical 
changes,  which  constitute  changes  in  the  mechani- 
cal arts,  are  by  far  the  most  important.  They  are, 
in  the  main,  of  three  kinds:  the  use  of  new  tools 
and  implements,  the  adoption  of  new  processes, 
and  the  appUcation  of  new  powers. 

In  the  course  of  invention,  the  hand  tool  long 
preceded  the  machine.  The  hand  tool  augments 
and  transfers  force  generated  by  the  body;  the 
machine  harnesses  the  forces  of  nature,  and  makes 
them  serviceable  to  the  will  of  man.  Of  all  natural 
powers,  electricity  is  the  greatest.  Steam  and  elec- 
tricity have  occasioned  the  vast  apphcation  of 
physical  and  chemical  force  that  has  made  In- 
dustry what  it  is  to-day. 

The  invention  of  the  mariner's  compass  and  the 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  41 

invention  of  printing  preceded  the  mechanical  in- 
ventions of  the  eighteenth  century  by  some  four 
hundred  years.  Both  were  far-reaching  in  their 
effects  upon  Industry  and  Commerce.  The  one 
aided  exploration,  the  other  the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge. It  was  not  till  the  steam  engine  was  in- 
vented, however,  that  their  latent  uses  were  af- 
forded all  but  unlimited  scope. 

Of  changes  in  industrial  organization,  the  most 
important  has  been  the  rapid  spread  in  many 
trades  of  the  severance  between  Capital  and 
Labor:  the  rise  of  a  distinct  employing  class  and 
a  distinct  laboring  class  working  for  wages.  As 
the  Industrial  Revolution  advanced,  this  severance 
extended  more  and  more.  A  moment's  reflection 
will  show  wherein  that  was  inevitable. 

Under  the  old  domestic  system,  many  a  man 
worked  in  his  own  home  with  his  own  tools,  pro- 
cured the  materials  needed  for  the  work,  and  then 
sold  the  product.  But  once  production  and  manu- 
facturing ceased  to  be  for  local  markets,  once  the 
demand  was  no  longer  limited,  but  developed  upon 
an  ever-expanding  scale,  the  domestic  laborer,  in 
competition  with  the  merchant  trader,  found  him- 
self handicapped  in  two  respects:  first,  he  had  not 
access  to  the  new  and  large  markets,  and  secondly, 
he  could  not  procure  materials  for  manufacture 
in  anything  hke  the  quantities  necessary.  When, 
under  the  spell  of  Invention,  machines,  vastly  out- 


42  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

stripping  the  efficiency  of  tools,  began  to  be  intro- 
duced, he  was  more  handicapped  than  ever.  The 
merchant  trader  being  possessed  of  capital  was 
able  to  obtain  materials  for  manufacture,  and  was 
able  to  obtain  access  to  new  and  distant  markets. 
He  was  in  a  position,  moreover,  to  take  advantage 
of  and  utilize  the  new  kinds  of  powers,  and  to  sub- 
stitute machine  for  hand  labor.  Thus,  there  gradu- 
ally arose  a  capitalistic  class  commanding  markets, 
controlhng  the  sources  of  production  and  power, 
and  controlling  labor.  The  domestic  system  in 
Industry  gave  way  to  the  factory  system,  and 
large-scale  organization;  a  regime  of  hand  tools 
gave  way  to  a  regime  of  machines,  and  there  fol- 
lowed the  enormous  growth  of  capitalism  in  In- 
dustry and  the  development  of  banking,  credit, 
and  other  financial  institutions  as  they  have  come 
to  be  at  the  present  time. 

The  introduction  of  machinery  and  the  oppor- 
tunity to  manufacture  on  a  large  scale  made  the 
division  of  industrial  processes  both  possible  and 
profitable.  It  made  possible  and  profitable  also 
the  substitution  of  one  class  of  labor  for  another, 
the  substitution  of  labor  of  an  inferior  or  less 
highly  skilled  grade  for  labor  more  or  less  highly 
skilled.  As  an  example:  under  the  domestic  sys- 
tem, where  spinning  and  weaving  were  carried 
on  in  the  home,  master,  journeyman,  and  appren- 
tices worked  together,  co-operating  in  the  art  of 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  43 

spinning  and  weaving.  With  the  introduction  of 
the  spinning-jenny  and  the  power  loom,  and  the 
transference  of  the  industry  from  the  home  into 
factories,  machines  did  the  work  which  formerly 
required  personal  skill;  the; industrial  processes  be- 
came divided,  and  boys,  or  women  and  children, 
were  employed  to  attend  or  "pohce"  the  machines. 
How  far  this  division  of  industrial  processes,  and 
the  division  of  labor  within  single  processes,  has 
been  carried  in  our  day  surpasses  the  imagination; 
it  is  an  all-important  feature  of  Industry  with 
which  most  persons  are  more  or  less  famihar. 

Division  of  industrial  processes  and  division  of 
labor  increased  with  the  wider  use  of  hand  tools; 
they  increased  many  fold  with  the  extended  use 
of  machines.  As  furthering  an  increase  in  output, 
division  of  processes  and  division  of  labor  are 
highly  advantageous  to  employers;  as  tending  to 
cheapen  the  cost  of  production,  they  are  advanta- 
geous to  the  public;  in  their  efTects  upon  Labor, 
they  are  not  without  grave  consequences.  They 
mean  a  continual  displacement  of  one  class  by 
another,  and  a  tendency  to  lessen  skill  by  more 
and  more  reducing  the  services  to  be  performed 
to  single  acts  in  single  processes.  Division  of  proc- 
esses and  division  of  labor  ignore  personahty,  and 
are  "dehumanizing"  to  the  extent  to  which  they 
make  Labor's  part  in  Industiy  mechanical,  and 
tend  to  destroy  initiative  and  resource.    On  the 


44  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

other  hand,  and  this  cannot  be  too  strongly  em- 
phasized, they  call  into  being  a  new  kind  of  skill 
in  the  mechanical  ability  required  to  handle  tools 
and  control  machines;  and  they  occasion  new 
classes  of  employment  in  the  manufacture  of  tools 
and  machines  themselves.  However,  whether  the 
change  be  one  involving  less  or  more  skill,  there 
is,  with  divisions  of  processes  and  of  labor,  a  con- 
tinual shifting  of  labor  from  one  kind  of  employ- 
ment to  another,  and  seldom  in  the  transition  is  it 
possible  to  avoid  hardship  and  suffering.  Wherever 
transitions  and  readjustments  in  Industry  have 
taken  place  on  any  considerable  scale,  they  have 
been  accompanied  by  vast  suffering  and  distress. 
There  are  few  pages  in  history  sadder  than  the 
appalling  misery  which  in  some  countries  has  ac- 
companied the  transition  from  the  hand  system  of 
Industry  to  modern  methods  of  manufacture. 

Most  serious  of  all,  perhaps,  of  the  effects  of  the 
changes  described  has  been  that  produced  upon  the 
attitude  of  Labor  and  Capital  towards  each  other. 
Under  the  domestic  system,  it  was  possible  for 
both  Labor  and  Capital  to  recognize  their  common 
interest,  and  for  each  to  comprehend  the  work  of 
production  more  or  less  in  its  entirety,  as  well  as 
the  significance  of  particular  acts  in  relation  to 
individual  processes.  Between  world  expansion  at 
the  one  extreme  and  minute  subdivision  of  proc- 
esses and  employment  at  the  other,  this  recog- 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  45 

nition  of  a  common  aim  in  a  common  undertak- 
ing has  been  lost,  as  well  as  the  understanding 
by  Labor  of  the  industrial  processes  of  which  its 
work  is  a  part,  end  the  bearing  of  its  particu- 
lar services  in  relation  thereto.  This  has  led  to  a 
change  of  attitude;  to  the  behef  in  opposed  as  con- 
trasted with  common  interests,  and  accounts  in 
no  small  measure  for  the  antagonism  and  resist- 
ance which  find  expression  in  the  militant  attitude 
of  organizations  of  Capital  and  Labor  toward  each 
other. 

Along  with  the  division  of  industrial  processes 
has  gone  the  change  in  industrial  areas  consequent 
upon  the  appUcation  of  new  powers  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  new  processes.  In  England,  the  substi- 
tution of  coal  for  wood  in  the  smelting  of  iron  ore, 
within  a  brief  period  led  to  a  transfer  of  the  iron 
industry  from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another. 
It  deserted  the  forest  centres  for  the  coal  areas. 
Once  the  power  loom  replaced  the  hand  loom, 
weaving  forsook  the  cottages  in  rural  districts 
for  the  banks  of  rivers  and  streams.  The  appli- 
cation of  steam  brought  about  yet  other  distribu- 
tion of  the  iron  and  textile  industries.  These  are 
commonly  cited  examples  from  earlier  days.  The 
changes  consequent  upon  the  extended  use  of  steam 
and  electrical  power  are  going  on  about  us  from 
day  to  day.  It  may  be  that  electricity  will  yet 
effect  a  return  of  manufacturing  to  rural  areas. 


46  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Changes  in  industrial  areas  have  not  been  con- 
fined within  the  boundaries  of  countries.  The  dis- 
tribution of  Industry  on  all  continents  has  been  af- 
fected. Who  can  begin  to  estimate  the  changes 
in  industrial  areas,  and  the  migrations  of  popu- 
lations and  industries  due  to  the  wide  diffusion 
of  agencies  of  transportation  and  communication, 
and  the  application  of  new  powers!  It  is  a  trans- 
formation so  vast  as  to  defy  description;  so  vast 
that  it  is  a  part  of  the  world  magic  of  modern 
times. 

It  is  bewildering  to  seek  to  trace  the  evolution 
of  the  industrial  world  as  it  has  come  into  being 
out  of  the  changes  in  industrial  and  national  or- 
ganization of  the  Eras  of  Discovery  and  Invention. 
It  is  more  important  to  appreciate  the  significance 
of  the  transformations  they  have  wrought. 

Discovery  and  Invention  have  minimized  the 
effects  of  Space  and  Time  as  separating  factors. 
In  populations  and  resources,  the  ends  of  the 
earth  have  been  brought  together;  and  so  ad- 
vanced are  the  facilities  for  transmitting  intelli- 
gence, that  the  diffusion  of  information  on  world 
affairs  may  outdistance  the  course  of  the  sun. 
The  development  of  organization  of  large-scale  In- 
dustry has  not  stopped  at  international  frontiers. 
It  has  scarcely  even  halted.  Concerned  primarily 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  47 

with  resources  and  markets,  it  has  spread  hither 
and  thither  over  the  surface  of  the  globe,  searching 
new  sources  of  material  wealth  and  new  avenues  for 
its  distribution,  as  water  seeks  its  level  upon  the 
sea.  Thus  have  come  into  being  the  world  move- 
ments in  immigration,  the  world  commerce,  the 
world  markets,  the  world  finance;  all,  aspects  of 
the  world  industry  which  is  the  foundation  of 
modern  cosmopolitan  life.  We  may  care  for  none 
of  these  developments;  we  may  shudder  at  their 
immensity;  most  of  all,  we  may  disUke  the  vast 
organization  of  Industry  they  compel.  But  they 
are  here.  We  can  help  in  their  onward  evolution; 
but  regrets  concerning  their  existence  are  vain. 

World  industry,  as  it  suggests  itself  to  the  im- 
agination, resembles  nothing  quite  so  much  as  a 
kaleidoscopic  or  cinematographic  presentation.  It 
may  be  comprehended  vaguely  in  its  entirety, 
but  it  is  in  ceaseless  motion,  and  is  undergoing 
continuous  change.  It  is  the  story  of  the  world's 
natural  resources  being  transformed  through  man's 
mental  and  physical  energy  into  commodities 
and  services  available  for  human  use.  It  is  one 
vast  process  of  continuous  transformation,  wrought 
out  of  ever-changing  methods  of  production,  dis- 
tribution, and  exchange,  and  involving  interweav- 
ing of  human  effort  on  a  scale  increasingly  vast, 
but  also  increasingly  minute.  Everywhere,  over 
the  whole  surface  of  the  globe,  is  witnessed  move- 


48  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ment  of  human  beings  hither  and  thither  pursuing 
activities  as  varied  as  human  need;  everywhere, 
a  world-wide  human  intercourse  rendering  the 
whole  of  Industry  more  and  more  one,  and,  simul- 
taneously, more  and  more  sensitive  to  whatever 
affects  any  of  its  parts. 

Not  to  recognize  the  tendency  toward  world 
expansion  in  Industry  with  its  innumerable  inter- 
relations and  interdependences,  its  countless  re- 
actions and  inter-reactions,  over  ever-widening 
circles,  is  to  be  indifferent  to  the  past  and  present 
alike.  Developments  in  no  two  countries  have 
been  the  same.  In  some  countries,  decades  have 
sufficed  to  effect  transitions  which  in  others  have 
taken  centuries.  It  is  not  possible  to  say  of  any 
one  country,  just  when  the  lesser  circle  broadened 
into  the  wider,  any  more  than  it  is  possible  to  say 
of  any  night,  just  when  it  emerged  into  day. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  predominant  and  determin- 
ing characteristics  of  all  social,  political,  and 
economic  institutions,  there  has  been  a  gradually 
expanding  evolution  toward  world  relations,  for 
which  an  ever-growing  commercial  intercourse 
has  been  in  the  main  responsible.  Modern  devel- 
opments in  the  agencies  of  transportation  and 
communication,  themselves  a  part  of  the  large- 
scale  organization  of  Industry,  have  hastened  this 
evolution.  They  have  done  more  than  any  other 
single  factor  to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  invention 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  49 

through  distant  lands,  and  to  subject  remote 
continents  to  the  transforming  influences  of  the 
Industrial  Revolution. 

Wherever  capital  has  gone,  it  has  been  a  dis- 
integrating factor.  Manufacturing  became  di- 
vorced from  its  association  with  Agriculture,  once 
Industry,  under  the  factory  system  which  capital 
encouraged,  forsook  rural  cottages  for  the  work- 
shops and  the  factories  of  urban  centres.  As 
capital  in  its  quest  of  materials  and  markets  dis- 
tributed production  over  the  surface  of  the  globe, 
industrial  processes  became  subdivided,  new  indus- 
trial areas  appeared,  old  areas  vanished.  In  vain 
national  policies  have  striven  to  confine  Industry 
within  national  bounds.  Government  regulation 
has  supplemented  motives  of  patriotism  in  an  en- 
deavor to  restrict  foreign  investments,  but  capital 
has  proven  as  intractable  as  mercury,  and  has 
sought  its  returns  in  fields  of  promise  wherever 
they  lay.  Wherever  capital  has  gone,  it  has  intro- 
duced something  of  the  large-scale  organization  of 
Industry  and  therewith  some  of  the  cosmopolitan 
aspects  of  modern  civilization.  The  very  expres- 
sions, the  "opening  up"  of  new  territories,  the 
"exploitation"  of  new  resources,  are  significant 
of  the  manner  in  which  capital  pursues  its  way. 
It  refuses  to  be  hampered  by  restrictions;  sooner 
or  later  it  circumvents  or  overrides  every  obstacle 
in  the  path  of  prospective  reward. 


50  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

It  is  essential,  in  a  consideration  of  industrial 
relations,  and  to  an  understanding  of  the  Labor 
Problem,  that  this  "mobility"  and  "fluidity" 
characteristic  of  capital  should  be  appreciated  at 
its  full  value.  The  inherent  ubiquity  of  capital 
sets  limits  to  what  may  be  possible  under  regu- 
lation, acquiesced  in  voluntarily  or  imposed  by 
authority  of  the  municipality,  the  state,  or  the 
nation.  It  reveals  perils  that  threaten  every 
endeavor  to  improve  conditions.  To  advanced 
industrial  communities,  it  suggests  wherein  the 
maintenance  of  acquired  standards  is  a  most 
important  consideration.  It  shows  why,  in  their 
efforts  to  attain  a  full  citizenship,  the  working 
classes  have  need  of  enlightened  action  on  the  part 
of  Government,  and  are  deserving  of  all  the  as- 
sistance they  can  obtain  from  the  well-wishers 
of  mankind.  With  ever-increasing  knowledge  of 
world  conditions,  ever-expanding  facihties  for  in- 
vestment, and  ever-growing  keenness  in  indus- 
trial rivalries,  to  maintain  and  advance  standards 
in  countries  which  are  in  the  van  of  industrial 
progress  is  one  of  the  problems  ahead.  How  ex- 
ceedingly difTicult  of  solution  the  problem  has  be- 
come, will  be  apparent  once  it  is  seen  how  the  War 
has  helped  to  reduce  standards  of  living  in  coun- 
tries within  competing  areas,  and  how  hitherto 
unexplored  and  undeveloped  areas  are  being  con- 
tinually brought  within  the  circle  of  world  compe- 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  51 

tition.   The  mobility  and  fluidity  of  capital  lie  at 
the  root  of  most  of  the  problems  of  Industry. 

For  the  workingmen  of  the  British  Isles  and  of 
the  continent  of  America,  facing,  on  the  one  side, 
the  competition  of  the  impoverished  populations 
of  Europe,  and  on  the  other  side,  the  competition 
of  the  Orient,  as  through  western  capital  it  be- 
comes gradually  acquainted  with  western  methods 
of  production  and  manufacture,  the  question  is 
a  serious  and  imminent  one.  Without  powerful 
controlling  influences  wisely  directed,  world  rivalry 
in  Industry  and  Trade  has  in  it  all  the  elements  of 
a  struggle  fraught  with  endless  misery  to  countless 
numbers  of  innocent  people.  In  the  absence  of 
intelligent  direction  in  world  affairs,  multitudes 
are  destined,  in  the  clash  of  competing  interests, 
to  be  sacrificed  to  a  condition  scarcely  less  ruthless 
than  that  of  war.  The  sufferings  of  the  victims 
of  economic  pressure  are  not  so  dramatically  dis- 
played as  are  the  sacrifices  of  men  in  war.  They 
are  none  the  less  real,  through  being  silently, 
slowly,  and  obscurely  borne.  The  Labor  Problem 
of  the  twentieth  century  is,  indeed,  the  problem 
of  Industry  and  Humanity.  To  comprehend  this 
truth  adequately  is  a  necessary  first  step  towards 
a  solution. 

In  deahng  with  influences  w^hich  are  world-wide 
in  scope  and  bearing,  it  is  perhaps  unreasonable  to 


52  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

expect  that  even  an  obvious  trend  should  be  appar- 
ent save  to  the  very  few  whose  business,  or  habit 
of  thought,  inchnes  them  toward  a  consideration 
of  world  affairs.  Arnold  Toynbee  once  said  that 
under  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's,  we  are  awed  by  the 
feeling  of  vastness,  of  space,  because  it  is  "the 
infinite  made  finite";  that  under  the  canopy  of 
heaven  "the  sense  is  lost  in  infinitude."  This  truth 
is  as  applicable  to  industrial  relations  as  to  art 
and  religion.  The  very  magnitude  and  sweep  of 
operating  forces  causes  their  presence  to  be  over- 
looked. 

Much  of  the  inability  to  interpret  aright  the 
industrial  problems  of  our  day  is  due  to  a  habit  of 
mind  which  inclines  men  to  be  local  and  sectional, 
and  not  to  look  beyond  appearances  or  environ- 
ment. Even  in  the  search  for  underlying  causes, 
vision  is  all  too  frequently  arrested  by  some  asser- 
tive factor  which  projects  itself  on  the  horizon. 
It  is  only  gradually,  and,  thus  far,  but  faintly,  that 
the  impotence  of  local  influences,  and  the  world- 
nature  of  competing  forces  have  come  to  be  recog- 
nized as  distinguishing  characteristics  of  modern 
Industry.  After  all,  it  is  not  strange  that  this 
should  be  so.  The  whole  evolution  toward  world 
expansion  in  Trade,  Finance,  and  Industry,  has 
been  gradual  and  unpremeditated;  and,  besides,  it 
has  been  very  recent.  It  is  far  from  being  com- 
plete even  yet;  if,  indeed,  it  is  not  only  just  begin- 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  53 

ning.  Like  the  breaking  of  dawn  in  mountainous 
regions,  its  approach  has  been  obscured  in  many 
a  part,  and  retarded  by  many  a  barrier.  Early 
morning  hght  disperses  its  rays  first  through  one 
valley,  then  through  another,  emerging  impercept- 
ibly in  ever-widening  areas.  Likewise,  as  knowl- 
edge has  become  diffused,  and  transportation  and 
communication  have  facilitated  movement,  as  larger 
accumulations  of  capital  have  made  fresh  invest- 
ments possible,  and  increased  daring  or  security 
has  fostered  new  ventures.  Competition  has  scat- 
tered industrial  enterprises  now  in  this  direction, 
now  in  that,  and  has  ever  combined  them  anew 
over  vaster  surfaces.  This  phenomenon  of  the  cease- 
less expansion  of  Competition  in  Industry;  of  dis- 
covery succeeding  discovery;  invention  supersed- 
ing invention ;  industrial  art  rivalHng  industrial  art ; 
—  all  in  an  endeavor  to  make  possible  greater  and 
cheaper  production,  is  without  parallel  among  the 
many  and  varied  activities  of  mankind. 

Before  America  or  Africa  was  discovered,  or  the 
Orient  was  explored,  men  and  women  employed 
in  the  hand  and  home  industries  of  Europe  had 
little  occasion  for  thought  concerning  the  migra- 
tions of  peoples  from  foreign  lands  or  the  invest- 
ment of  capital  abroad.  In  Industry  limited  by 
hand  tools  and  human  energy,  there  was  no  need 
of  concern  on  Labor's  part  because  of  the  con- 
stant reduction  toward  a  single  act  in  a  single 


54  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

process  which  modern  invention,  with  its  use  of 
machinery  and  natural  powers,  its  subdivision  of 
processes,  and  division  of  labor  within  a  single 
process,  has  made  a  distinctive  feature  of  the  In- 
dustry of  to-day.  Neither  could  there  be  the  same 
indifference  to  the  skill  of  the  worker  as  such,  as  is 
possible  where  numbers  may  be  a  more  important 
consideration  than  even  industrial  equipment. 

It  has  been  the  ever-increasing  mobility  and 
fluidity  of  both  Labor  and  Capital  which  has 
compelled  a  recognition  of  the  world-wide  nature 
of  Competition  under  modern  industrial  develop- 
ment. Finding,  wherever  there  was  human  hfe, 
that  there  also  was  the  possibihty  of  increased 
competition  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  Labor, 
through  unremitting  efforts  to  fortify  itself,  has 
become  conscious  of  the  world-wide  nature  of  this 
force.  Like  an  onward  surf,  the  tide  of  human  life 
has  surged  toward  industrial  opportunity.  Labor, 
in  its  thought  of  self,  has  been  compelled  to  see 
that  it  must  have  regard  for  Humanity  as  a  whole. 

Labor  has  come  to  recognize  its  interests  as 
akin  to  those  of  Humanity,  because  most  work- 
men no  longer  are  owners  of  their  own  tools,  no 
longer  obtain  employment  in  their  own  shops,  no 
longer  work  upon  materials  which  for  the  time 
being  are  their  own,  and  no  longer  sell  the  prod- 
ucts of  their  own  labor.  They  find  themselves,  on 
the  contrary,  possessed  of  little  save  their  skill  and 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  55 

energy;  human  beings  who  work  with  equipment 
which  belongs  to  others,  in  cstabhshments  owned 
by  others,  upon  materials  the  property  of  others, 
and  who  leave  to  others  the  disposition  of  the 
wealth  they  have  helped  to  produce.  Working- 
men  and  women  have  come  to  realize  that,  in  the 
ever-changing  conditions  of  Industry,  they  exist 
as  atoms  in  a  human  tide  so  vast,  and  subject  to 
such  ceaseless  ebb  and  flow,  that  the  effort  to  secure 
collective  stability  becomes  the  first  requisite  of 
existence  itself. 

For  reasons  precisely  analogous,  Capital  also  has 
come  to  seek  its  security  in  consolidation,  as  under 
the  unifying  influences  of  Discovery  and  Inven- 
tion, the  circles  of  industrial  competition  have  con- 
tinued to  expand  wider  and  wider.  No  longer  do 
men  of  limited  means  find  it  possible  to  reap  large 
gains  in  isolated  ventures.  For  one  who  succeeds, 
a  thousand  fail.  Demand  is  no  longer  local;  supply 
is  no  longer  local.  Development  has  gone  on  and 
on  from  the  day  when  locality  competed  with 
locality,  and  industry  with  industry,  to  the  present 
time,  when  markets  are  world  markets  and  con- 
tinent competes  with  continent. 

Before  the  advent  of  the  telegraph  and  the  cable, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  time  ere  the  locomotive  sup- 
planted the  road  coach,  and  the  steamship  the  sail- 
ing vessel,  the  Stock  Exchange  played  httle  or  no 
part  in  international  transactions.  To-day  it  has  the 


56  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

important  news  of  the  world  ahead  of  parliaments 
and  embassies.  Through  the  Exchange,  fortunes 
may  be  won  and  lost  on  the  outcome  of  battles, 
before  it  is  know^n  by  participating  regiments  to 
which  army  victory  or  defeat  has  come.  The  inter- 
dependence of  Industry  between  continents  was 
apparent  half  a  century  and  more  ago,  when  fac- 
tories in  Lancashire  closed  because  of  conditions 
affecting  the  cotton  crop  in  the  Southern  States, 
and  drought  in  Egypt  and  India  brought  depres- 
sion to  trade  in  Britain.  This  interdependence 
has  intensified  ever  since.  Panic  in  New  York 
or  London  creates  financial  depression  throughout 
the  world.  Industrial  difficulties  in  any  one  coun- 
try may  affect  all.  The  War  has  shown  us  that  no 
longer  can  any  man  five  to  himself  alone,  or  any 
nation. 

The  world-wide  nature  of  forces  at  work  upon 
Capital  is  reflected  in  the  world's  commerce.  It 
also,  like  a  mighty  tide  sweeps  now  in  this  direc- 
tion, now  in  that;  deepening  or  deserting  former 
channels;  nowhere  constant,  everywhere  seeking 
or  forsaking  anew.  Capital  has  sought  in  different 
ways  to  fortify  itself  against  the  cross-currents  of 
this  ceaseless  change.  At  first,  its  countless  com- 
peting units  struggled  one  against  another;  little 
by  little,  they  began  to  coalesce,  and  the  process 
has  so  continued.  Industry  no  longer  resembles  the 
innumerable  stars  of  the  sky  by  night,  as  it  once 


THE  WORLD  ASPECT  57 

did  with  its  distribution  of  power  in  a  multitude 
of  hands.  More  and  more,  through  its  consohda- 
tions,  Industry  has  come  to  bear  resemblance  to 
the  earth's  physical  distribution.  Its  combinations 
of  influence  and  interests  are  so  vast  that  isolated 
enterprises  are  but  as  islands  of  the  sea  compared 
to  continents  that  yield  a  power  as  one. 

But  while  Labor  and  Capital  have  become 
conscious  of  the  world-wide  scope  of  the  forces  of 
competition  to  which  each  finds  itself  increasingly 
subjected,  neither  seems  to  have  come  as  yet  to 
realize  the  degree  to  which  the  other  is  being 
affected  in  a  manner  similar  to  itself.  Each  is  still 
preoccupied  with  the  gigantic  proportions  of  its 
own  problem.  Labor  appreciates  the  ever-increas- 
ing competition  affecting  itself.  It  has  been  slow 
to  recognize  the  subtlety  and  magnitude  of  forces 
which  divert  capital  from  one  industry  to  another, 
and  which  occasion  its  movement  from  one  conti- 
nent to  another.  Capital,  likewise,  has  keen  regard 
for  the  world  influences  which  render  necessary  its 
constant  watch  for  new  avenues  of  quick  and  sure 
returns.  It  is  ready  and  willing  enough  to  secure 
itself  in  ever-growing  aggregations  against  the  haz- 
ards of  smaller  units.  It  gives  little  heed  to  the 
individual  lives  that  suffer  or  are  sacrificed  by  its 
rapid  transitions;  and  is  slow  to  concede  to  La- 
bor, in  Labor's  struggle  against  world  forces,  facili- 
ties of  combination  Uke  unto  its  own. 


58  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Appreciation  by  Labor  of  the  fact  that  the  forces 
of  competition  against  which  Capital  has  to  con- 
tend operate  on  a  world  scale,  and  appreciation  by 
Capital  of  the  fact  that  the  forces  of  competition 
against  which  Labor  has  to  contend  also  operate 
on  a  world  scale,  would  materially  further  mutual 
recognition  of  common  as  contrasted  with  opposed 
interests;  and  aid  in  an  understanding,  by  each  of 
the  parties,  of  the  difficulties  with  which  the  other 
is  beset.  Such  an  outlook  would  go  a  long  way 
toward  the  solution  of  differences  that  arise.  Like 
appreciation  by  nations  of  the  nature  and  magni- 
tude of  forces  of  which  all  are  obliged  to  take  ac- 
count, would  tend  toward  wider  sympathy  and 
understanding,  and  clearer  discernment  of  the 
common  enemies  of  mankind.  In  industrial  and 
international  relations,  recognition  of  like  diffi- 
culties and  uncertainties  will  do  more  than  any- 
thing else  to  promote  the  spirit  of  co-operation  and 
constructive  good-will  by  which  alone  estrange- 
ments and  antagonisms  are  to  be  overcome. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  HUMAN  ASPECT 

A  NEW  world  of  Industry  came  into  being  in  the 
epoch  which  witnessed  the  transition  from  the  re- 
gime of  hand  tools  to  the  regime  of  machines. 
Individuals  and  localities  were  lost  to  sight  in  an 
expansion  which  compelled  regard  for  continents 
in  the  movements  of  labor  and  of  capital  alike. 
In  the  disappearance  of  the  personal  relationships 
between  the  parties  to  Industry,  and  in  the  growth 
of  impersonal  attitudes  occasioned  by  vast  and 
complex  organization,  Hes  the  crux  of  the  Labor , 
Problem.  Where  machines  and  natural  powers 
can  be  substituted  for  human  beings  and  human 
energy;  where  the  entire  world  presents  one  vast 
field  for  investment,  in  which,  by  a  stroke  of  the 
pen,  millions  of  dollars  of  capital  may  be  trans- 
ferred from  one  industry  to  another,  and  from  one 
hemisphere  to  another;  it  is  perhaps  inevitable  that 
Labor  should  be  regarded,  in  the  markets  of  the 
world,  not  as  representative  of  individual  lives, 
to  whom  all  that  existence  holds  dear  is  of  para- 
mount concern,  but  as  a  conamodity  to  be  valued 
solely  on  an  economic  basis,  or,  at  best,  as  the 
expression  of  so  much  human  effort. 

It  is  wholly  natural  that  men,  preoccupied  with 


60  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  world  aspect  of  competition  as  it  affects  re- 
sources and  markets,  should  overlook  the  far- 
reaching  consequences  of  the  altered  relations 
between  employer  and  employee.  Under  condi- 
tions of  world  competition,  the  problems  of  organ- 
ization and  finance  are  so  large  that  those  who  are 
concerned  with  them  necessarily  hesitate  to  assume 
the  obligation  of  giving  thought  also  to  personal 
contacts.  The  hne  of  least  resistance  is  to  leave 
the  frictional  aspects  of  industrial  relations  to  be 
dealt  with  as  they  arise.  Where  ready  and  frequent 
touch  between  the  parties  has  continued,  common 
understanding  and  a  sense  of  reciprocal  obliga- 
tion have  also  continued.  All  expansion,  however, 
renders  more  difficult  and  remote  the  continual 
contacts  characteristic  of  Industry  in  its  simpler 
forms.  Recognition  of  personality,  and  what  it 
involves,  is  none  the  less  of  first  importance.  A 
wholly  new  problem  in  the  understanding  and 
management  of  Labor  is  thus  created. 

Were  men  actuated  by  like  motives,  and  did 
they  entertain  similar  conceptions  of  human  worth 
and  destiny,  the  problem  of  industrial  relations, 
even  in  its  present  compUcated  form,  would  be  less 
perplexing.  The  world,  however,  is  composed  of  all 
kinds  and  conditions  of  people,  and  it  is  the  "all 
kinds  and  conditions"  who  meet  in  the  world 
markets,  and  who  are  one  another's  rivals.  The 
man  of  high  ideals  is  confronted  by  the  man  who 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  61 

laughs  at  ideals;  the  man  of  honor  has  to  compete 
with  men  of  low  cunning;  the  man  who  would 
make  material  progress  serve  spiritual  ends  finds 
himself  surrounded  by  men  who  would  sacrifice 
every  spiritual  aspiration  to  material  aggrandize- 
ment. This,  unhappily,  is  not  a  local  condition; 
it  would  appear  to  exist  wherever  men  congregate. 

Moreover,  human  nature  is  frail.  Many  begin 
with  lofty  motives,  and  descend  to  lower  ones. 
They  come  to  mistake  the  means  for  the  end. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  the  pursuit  of  wealth. 
The  high  purposes  it  may  be  made  to  serve,  and 
even  the  capacity  for  its  enjoyment,  have  time 
and  again  been  lost  in  efforts  at  acquisition.  Man 
is  forever  erecting  altars  to  the  glory  of  God,  and 
forever  worshipping  at  them  in  pride  of  self. 

The  problem,  too,  would  be  freed  of  some  of  its 
perplexities  were  conditions  the  same  within  com- 
peting areas.  How  much  easier  it  would  be  to 
take  adequate  account  of  human  values,  were 
employers  guaranteed  equal  privileges  and  bound 
by  identical  restrictions;  were  there  for  all  like 
accessibihtj^  to  resources  and  markets;  were  intelli- 
gence and  skill  invariable;  and  were  the  standards 
of  living  the  same  throughout  the  world !  Instead 
of  similarity,  however,  there  is  diversity  every- 
where. Not  only  do  regulations  governing  Indus- 
try differ  as  between  locality  and  locality;  but  as 
between  the  laws  of  the  several  states  within  any 


62  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

one  country,  there  are  amazing  differences;  and 
there  are  even  wider  differences  between  the  laws 
of  one  country  and  those  of  another.  Not  only  do 
standards  of  living  differ  as  between  peoples  in- 
habiting the  same  country;  there  are  actual  differ- 
ences in  civilizations  between  competing  countries. 
All  the  while  the  cosmopolitan  trend  of  modern 
times  is  helping  to  intensify  international  compe- 
tition. 

While  in  China  in  1909,  I  learned  that  steel 
ingots  were  being  exported  from  the  Iron  and 
Steel  Works  at  Woochang  to  the  United  States. 
Woochang  is  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Yang-tse 
River,  opposite  Hankow,  and  is  a  journey  inland 
from  Shanghai  of  about  six  hundred  miles.  From 
this  port  in  China,  the  weighty  cargoes  were  car- 
ried by  sea  thousands  of  miles  around  the  Horn 
to  the  eastern  coast  of  America.  After  the  payment 
of  customs  dues,  the  ingots  were  distributed  by 
rail  to  different  points  in  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York.  It  was  stated  that,  later  on,  some  of  this 
steel  found  its  way  to  Canada.  The  motive  of  the 
several  parties  to  these  transactions  was  not 
philanthropic.  It  paid  the  Chinese  to  export,  and 
it  paid  the  Americans  and  Canadians  to  import, 
or  these  shipments  would  not  have  been  made. 
Except  for  the  handicaps  of  tariff  and  transporta- 
tion, the  laborers  in  the  iron  and  steel  industries  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  might  as  well  have 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  63 

had  their  Chinese  brethren  working  in  adjoining 
plants,  with  no  regulations  as  to  hours  or  other  con- 
ditions of  labor,  and  with  standards  of  living  the 
reverse  of  such  as  are  maintained  by  legislation  in 
advanced  communities. 

The  coohe  laborers  in  Woochang  were  receiving 
the  equivalent  of  $3.20  to  $4.00  a  month,  the  la- 
bor attending  furnaces  the  equivalent  of  $8.00  a 
month,  and  the  skilled  workmen  $8.00  to  $16.00 
a  month.  Foremen  received  $24.00  a  month. 
Nearly  all  worked  twelve  hours,  by  day,  or  by 
night,  except  at  the  weekly  intervals  when  the 
shifts  were  made  from  day  to  night  work,  and  from 
night  to  day  work.  At  such  times,  there  were 
continuous  stretches  of  eighteen  hours.  Except 
for  the  Chinese  New  Year,  there  were  no  holidays. 
The  mills  were  being  operated  364  days  in  the 
year,  and  over  the  greater  part  of  the  plant  there 
was  no  stoppage  of  work  on  Sundays.  The  capital 
invested  in  the  industry  had  little  or  nothing  to 
lose  through  demands  from  Labor  for  increases  in 
wages  or  reductions  in  hours;  or  from  interrup- 
tions to  work  through  scarcity  of  labor  or  from 
strikes.  So  plentiful  was  labor  that  the  Company 
at  Woochang  found  it  more  profitable  to  employ 
coolies  to  work  by  hand  than  to  install  labor-sav- 
ing devices  to  load  and  unload  the  ships  which 
carried  iron  ore  from  the  mines  to  the  works.  In 
the  labor  markets  of  America,  there  may  have  been 


64  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

hundreds  of  laborers,  possibly  thousands,  to  draw 
from;  in  China  there  were  milhons.  Moreover, 
Chinese  women  were  just  as  proficient  as  men  in 
getting  coal  out  of  the  mines,  and  in  performing 
other  kinds  of  unskilled  labor,  and  were  as  exten- 
sively employed.  Some  of  the  workers  of  both  sexes 
were  as  young  as  from  twelve  to  fourteen. 

This  picture  suggests  considerations  serious 
enough  with  respect  to  foreign  competition,  where 
foreign  labor  is  confined  to  its  own  countries. 
Unfortunately  for  domestic  labor,  the  competition 
of  foreign  labor  is  not  thus  confined.  In  some  of 
the  industrial  areas  of  America,  there  are  com- 
munities much  more  suggestive  of  a  Federation 
of  European  States  than  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  There  are  even  Asiatic  communities 
of  not  inconsiderable  size.  These  foreign  colonies 
compete,  in  ways  immediate  or  remote,  with  men 
and  women  born  to  citizenship  in  the  Union.  The 
legacy  bequeathed  through  the  importation  of  col- 
ored races  from  Africa  and  the  Indies  represents 
but  one  of  the  many  competitive  strata  which 
American  Labor  has  encountered  as  a  consequence 
of  policies  which  have  ignored  considerations  other 
than  economic. 

It  is  across  this  universe  of  competing  civiliza- 
tions, of  competing  races,  of  competing  standards; 
across  this  world  arena  in  which  men,  women,  and 
children,  of  all  kinds  of  upbringing,  and  all  degrees 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  65 

of  intelligence,  vie  with  machines  in  carrying  on 
the  world's  production,  that  financiers  distrib- 
ute accumulated  wealth  as  it  becomes  available 
for  investment.  The  Stock  Exchange  is  quick  to 
make  known  opportunities  abroad,  as  well  as  at 
home.  And  so  the  circle  of  competition  widens, 
and  within  it,  from  centre  to  circumference,  persist 
the  varying  conditions,  the  fluctuating  tendencies, 
the  remorseless  and  never-ending  change. 

In  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  an  official 
named  Gresham  observed  that  where  different 
metals  were  in  circulation  as  coinage  and  some 
were  better  than  others  of  the  same  nominal  value, 
the  coins  made  of  the  inferior  metal  tended  to 
drive  the  better  out  of  circulation.  The  better 
coins  were  either  hoarded  or  melted  down  and 
sold  as  bullion,  were  used  in  the  fine  arts,  or  were 
absorbed  in  the  foreign  exchanges.  In  other  words, 
what  Gresham  discovered  was  that  cheaper  money 
tends  to  drive  out  dearer;  that  when  people  begin 
to  discriminate  between  two  coinages,  they  will 
invariably  pay  out  the  inferior  and  hoard  the  bet- 
ter, thus  removing  the  better  from  circulation. 
This  phenomenon  once  generally  observed  came  to 
be  described  as  a  "Law,"  and  was  identified  with 
Gresham's  name,  since  it  was  Gresham  who  was 
first  successful  in  drawing  public  attention  to  it. 
Amongst  money-changers,  Gresham's  Law  of  the 


66  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

precious  metals  is  better  known  than  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments. 

Something  analogous  to  Gresham's  Law  will  be 
found  to  obtain  in  the  case  of  competing  standards 
in  Industry.  Assuming  there  is  indifference  in  the 
matter  of  choice  between  competing  commodities 
or  services,  but  that  in  the  case  of  such  commodi- 
ties or  services  the  labor  standards  involved  vary, 
the  inferior  standard,  if  brought  in  this  manner 
into  competition  with  a  higher  standard,  will  drive 
it  out,  or  drag  the  higher  down  to  its  level.  This  is 
effected  by  the  opportunity  of  under-selling  which 
comes  where  in  such  cases  human  well-being  is 
sacrificed  to  material  ends.  The  superior  standard, 
not  being  recognized  or  demanded,  is  unable  to 
hold  its  own,  and  in  time  disappears.  This  Law  is 
just  as  real  and  relentless  in  its  operation  in  In- 
dustry as  GreshaimiS  Law  of  the  precious  metals  is 
with  respect  to  money  and  the  mechanism  of  ex- 
change. Indeed,  a  more  accurate  exposition  would 
describe  both  as  manifestations  of  one  and  the 
same  law,  which  I  propose  to  call  the  Law  of 
Competing  Standards.  I  see  no  reason  why  econo- 
mists should  not  recognize  the  existence  of  such  a 
law,  and  incorporate  it  immediately  in  economic 
science  as  being  quite  as  significant  as  the  Law  of 
Supply  and  Demand,  the  Law  of  Diminishing  Re- 
turns, or  any  other  Law  accorded  a  place  in  its 
nomenclature. 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  67 

The  Law  of  Comj^ing- Standards  is  doubtless 
a  part  of  the  general  Law_of_QQmp£iiiion,  under 
which  the  cheaper  of  two  commodities  gains  in 
competition  a  preference  over  the  dearer.  What 
Gresham  discovered  was  an  important  sequence 
of  the  Law  of  Competition  as  applied  to  coinage; 
namely,  the  disappearance,  in  the  course  of  time, 
of  the  superior  metals.  Observance  of  a  like  se- 
quence in  the  case  of  standards  in  Industry  is 
highly  desirable.  As  respects  labor  standards,  I 
believe  that  recognition  of  the  operation  of  the 
Law  of  Competing  Standards  over  ever-widening 
areas  would  do  more  than  aught  else  to  clear  up 
the  most  baffling  problems  with  which  Industry 
is  confronted,  and  to  point  the  way  to  a  solution 
of  many  situations  which  hitherto  have  seemed 
incapable  of  solution.  Let  me  cite  one  or  two  ex- 
amples from  investigations  with  which  I  have  had 
to  do. 

During  the  winter  of  1896-97,  while  attending 
the  Graduate  School  of  the  University  of  Chicago, 
I  lived  at  the  Hull  House  Social  Settlement.  I  was 
preparing,  at  the  time,  a  thesis  upon  labor  organi- 
zation in  the  United  States  and  trade-union  meth- 
ods. ^  The  Settlement  and  its  surroundings  and 
my  studies  brought  me  into  touch  with  such  con- 
crete problems  as  those  presented  by  the  tendency 

^  "Trade-Union  Organization  in  the  United  States,"  Journal 
of  Political  Economy,  March,  1897;  "The  International  Typographi- 
ceJ  Union,"  Journal  of  PoUlical  Economy,  September,  1897. 


68  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

of  foreign  populations  in  large  cities  to  become 
grouped  into  "colonies"  representative  of  different 
nationalities;  and  by  the  tendency  of  home  life  to  be 
transferred  from  single  dwellings  into  overcrowded 
'  tenements,  aUied  too  often,  through  opportunities 
of  social  intercourse,  with  some  neighboring  saloon 
and  its  light,  warmth,  music,  and  boon  compan- 
ions. The  problem  of  "the  sweated  trades"  was 
another  of  the  problems  confronted. 

Reflecting  since  upon  the  significance  of  much 
that  I  saw  while  at  Hull  House,  it  has  seemed  to 
me  that  every  one  of  the  undermining  processes 
commonly  observed  in  the  slum  areas  of  cities  is 
but  a  manifestation,  in  one  form  or  another,  of 
the  workings  of  the  Law  of  Competing  Standards. 
Take  the  foreign  populations:  without  drawing 
invidious  distinctions,  it  is  apparent  in  every  city 
that  when  certain  races  get  possession  of  particu- 
lar locahties,  the  other  races  disappear.  Take  the 
problem  of  housing:  the  tenement,  brought  into 
competition  with  the  single  dwelling,  will  soon 
supplant  it.  Every  large  industrial  city  has  seen  its 
streets  of  humble  homes  transformed  by  degrees 
into  overcrowded  tenement  districts.  The  lower 
standard  dwelling,  once  brought  into  effective 
competition  with  the  dwelling  of  a  superior  class 
causes  the  latter  to  vanish.  As  respects  tenants, 
if  different  classes  arc  permitted  to  compete,  the 
lower  class  once  in  possession  eventually  drives  out 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  69 

the  higher.  It  is  in  this  way  that  slums  are  created. 
They  represent  the  low  ebb  to  which  communities 
are  brought  where  inferior  standards  have  been 
permitted  to  drive  out  the  superior.  The  tendency 
that  creates  a  slum  intensifies  as  the  conditions 
that  occasion  it  develop. 

Having  observed  these  tendencies  in  Chicago, 
on  my  return  to  Canada  in  the  summer  of  1897, 
I  wrote  a  series  of  articles  for  the  "Mail  and 
Empire,"  Toronto,  on  possible  similar  develop- 
ments in  Canadian  cities.  Among  topics  dealt 
with  were,  the  foreign  papulations  of  Toronto,  the 
housing  of  the  working  people,  and  sweating  in 
industry.  In  "visiting  the  homes  of  workers  in  the 
garment  trades  in  company  with  a  Labor  friend, 
I  came  across  letter  carriers'  uniforms  being  made 
up  under  contracts  awarded  by  the  Post  Office 
Department  of  Canada.  On  questioning  one  of  the 
workers  as  to  the  remuneration  she  was  receiving 
for  sewing  machine  and  hand  work,  I  found  that  it 
came  to  a  very  few  cents  an  hoiu*.  I  shall  never  for- 
get the  feeling  of  pained  surprise  and  indignation 
I  experienced  as  I  learned  of  the  extent  of  that 
woman's  toil  from  early  morning  till  late  at  night, 
and  figured  out  the  pittance  she  received.  The 
circumstance  that  it  was  Government  work,  and 
that  the  contracting  firm  was  one  of  high  repute  in 
the  city,  did  not  lessen  the  resentment  I  felt.  As 
I  visited  other  homes  and  shops,  I  found  the  con- 


70  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

dition  of  this  woman's  emplo^Tnent  to  be  in  no 
sense  isolated,  but  all  too  common. 

Mr.  Mulock  ^  was  Postmaster  General  at  the 
time.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Liberal  Administra- 
tion formed  by  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  after  the  Gen- 
eral Elections  of  1896.  He  resided  in  Toronto,  and 
was  in  the  habit  of  coming  from  Ottawa  to  Toronto 
at  the  week-ends.  Mr.  Mulock  and  my  father  were 
friends.  Both  for  many  years  had  been  members 
of  the  senate  of  the  University  of  Toronto.  I 
thought  the  conditions  of  which  I  had  knowledge 
should  be  brought  to  the  Postmaster  General's 
attention.  In  the  University  association,  there  was 
a  bond  on  which  I  felt  I  could  rely.  I  decided,  at 
all  events,  not  to  pubhsh  the  article  on  "sweat- 
ing" till  the  Government  had  had  its  chance. 

On  the  ensuing  Sunday  afternoon,  my  father 
and  I  called  on  Mr.  Mulock.  It  was  even  better 
than  I  had  anticipated.  The  Postmaster  General 
walked  the  floor  like  a  caged  hon,  and  wanted  to 
know  what  should  be  done  to  remedy  immediately 
such  an  abuse  of  public  patronage.  I  suggested 
that  conditions  might  be  inserted  in  pubhc  con- 
tracts to  ensure  to  the  Labor  employed  a  mini- 
mum wage  which  would  be  a  fair  compensation 
for  the  work  performed;  that  wherever  work  for 
the  Government  was  being  executed,  the  premises 

1  Now    Sir   William   Mulock,    Chief    Justice   of   the   Exchequer 
Division  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ontario. 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  71 

should  be  open  to  inspection;  and  that  sub-con- 
tracting hkely  to  lead  to  sweating  on  Government 
contracts  should  be  prohibited.  Mr.  Mulock  asked 
me  to  write  out  the  conditions  there  and  then,  and 
to  meet  him  the  following  morning  at  the  offices 
of  the  firm  holding  the  contract  with  his  Depart- 
ment. He  said  he  would  see  that  matters  were  so 
altered  as  to  give  to  labor  conditions  a  place  in 
existing  and  all  future  contracts  of  the  Post  Office 
Department.  He  was  as  good  as  his  word. 

A  day  or  two  later,  I  received  from  Ottawa  an 
official  communication  asking  if  I  would  make  a  re- 
port to  the  Government  upon  the  methods  thereto- 
fore adopted  in  Canada  in  the  carrying  out  of  Gov- 
ernment clothing  contracts.  Special  mention  was 
made  of  the  manufacture  of  uniforms  for  Canadian 
Post  Office  officials,  the  Mihtia,  and  the  North- 
west Mounted  Police.  Early  in  January,  1898,  I 
submitted  a  report  to  the  Government.  ^  It  re- 
vealed in  no  uncertain  hght  the  evils  incident  to 
unregulated  Government  contract  work  during  the 
preceding  ten  years,  and  the  need  of  Government 
intervention  to  prevent  the  continuance  of  like 
abuses  in  connection  with  future  contracts. 

I  mention  this  investigation  and  report  because 
of  what  they  disclose  of  the  operation  of  the  Law 
of  Competing  Standards.  The  inferior  standards  of 

^  "Report  to  the  Honorable  the  Postmaster  General  on  the 
methods  adopted  in  Canada  in  the  carrying  out  of  Government 
Clothing  Contracts."   King's  Printer,  Ottawa,  1898. 


72  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

industry  in  one  Province  had  been  played  off 
against  the  better  standards  in  others.  Within  the 
separate  Provinces,  the  workshop  standard  had 
been  played  off  against  the  factory  standard,  and 
the  home  standard  against  the  workshop  standard. 
Machines  operated  by  power  had  been  played  off 
against  machines  operated  by  the  worker  without 
mechanical  aid;  machine  work  had  been  played  off 
against  hand  work;  work  by  the  piece,  against  work 
by  the  day  or  week;  and  the  work  of  women  and 
girls,  against  the  work  of  men.  Even  the  unpaid 
work  of  "learners"  had  been  set  over  against  the 
work  of  expert  hands.  More  than  that,  the  sub- 
contractors of  one  nationality  had  been  placed  in 
competition  with  those  of  another,  and  the  bids  of 
sub-contractors  had  been  played  off  against  each 
other.  Pin-money  earnings  of  one  class  of  workers 
had  been  played  off  against  the  extreme  necessities 
of  other  classes.  With  what  result  upon  labor  stand- 
ards? In  some  instances,  women  and  girls  had  been 
working  excessive  hours,  under  unwholesome  sani- 
tary conditions,  and  had  been  receiving  for  actual 
work  performed  payment  at  the  rate  of  three  and 
four  cents  an  hour!  Contractors,  in  one  or  two  in- 
stances I  learned  of,  had  received  profits,  on  the 
contracts  the  Government  had  awarded,  as  high  as 
one  hundred  per  cent !  The  lowest  standard  came 
to  prevail  wherever  economic  conditions  permitted 
its  appUcation.    The  mean  man  was  enabled  to 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  73 

profit  because  of  his  meanness.  As  inferior  stand- 
ards came  into  effective  competition  with  superior 
standards,  the  efficient  and  faithful  worker  was  re- 
duced, httle  by  httle,  to  lower  levels. 

Incidentally,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  mention 
that  action  subsequently  taken  by  the  Government 
to  suppress  sweating  was  made  the  occasion,  in 
March,  1900,  of  the  introduction  by  Mr.  Mulock, 
in  the  House  of  Commons  of  Canada,  of  what  is 
known  as  The  Fair  Wages  Resolution,  whereby  all 
Government  contracts  are  required  to  contain  con- 
ditions which  will  prevent  abuse  arising  from  sub- 
letting, and  which  will  secure  to  Labor  on  Govern- 
ment contract  work  the  payment  of  such  wages  as 
are  generally  accepted  as  current  in  each  trade  for 
competent  workmen  in  the  district  where  the  work 
is  carried  out.  It  was  the  adoption  of  this  resolu- 
tion as  a  part  of  Government  poHcy  that,  amongst 
other  things,  led  in  the  same  year  to  the  creation 
of  the  Department  of  Labor  of  Canada  by  the 
Laurier  Administration. 

The  anti-Asiatic  riots  which  occurred  on  the 
Pacific  coast  in  1907,  first  in  California,  and  later 
in  British  Columbia,  have  been  referred  to  as  fore- 
bodings of  "the  Japanese  menace"  and  "the  yel- 
low peril."  Though  the  riots  themselves  were  httle 
more  than  momentary  outbursts  of  passion,  they 
evidenced  an  underlying  feeling  of  fear  and  anta- 
gonism on  the  part  of  Labor  in  America  toward 


74  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  Oriental  races,  a  feeling  which,  under  sufficient 
provocation,  might  engender  at  any  time  the  most 
serious  of  international  problems.  Many  circum- 
stances combined  to  bring  me  into  intimate  touch 
with  the  problems  arising  out  of  the  competition 
of  Oriental  Labor,  and  to  compel  a  close  study  of 
fundamental  considerations.  After  the  trouble  in 
British  Columbia,  I  was  appointed  to  investigate 
the  losses  sustained  by  the  Japanese  and  Chinese 
populations  in  that  Province.^  Subsequently,  I 
received  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the  broad 
question  of  immigration  to  Canada  from  the  Ori- 
ent.2  The  year  following  I  was  sent  to  England  as 
the  representative  of  the  Government  of  Canada 
to  confer  with  Lord  Morley,  Secretary  of  State  for 
India,  on  the  subject  of  immigration  to  Canada 
from  India,  and  to  negotiate  an  understanding  with 
the  British  and  Indian  Governments  with  respect 
thereto.^  These  missions  were  followed  by  visits 
to  India,  China,  and  Japan,  and  official  conferences 
with  the  authorities  in  those  countries  on  the  rela- 
tions of  the  peoples  of  the  Orient  and  America. 
About  the  same  time,  on  the  invitation  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  then  President  of  the  United  States,  I 
visited  England  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  con- 

1  Vide  Reports  Nos.   74-f  and    74-g.   King's    Printer,   Ottawa, 
1908. 

2  Report  of  Royal  Commission.    Government  Printing  Bureau, 
Ottawa,  1908. 

2  Report  No.  36-a.  Bung's  Printer,  Ottawa,  1908. 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  75 

veying  messages  from  the  United  States  to  Japan, 
through  the  British  Foreign  Minister,  Sir  Edward 
Grey,  respecting  the  significance  to  America  of 
unrestricted  immigration  from  the  Orient.  The 
mission  at  the  time  was  wholly  confidential;  it  has 
since  been  referred  to  publicly  by  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

At  the  root  of  the  strained  situations  in  every 
one  of  the  important  transactions  mentioned,  lay 
the  insidious  workings  of  the  Law  of  Competing 
Standards,  creating  unrest  of  the  most  grievous 
kind,  and  threatening  the  gravest  sort  of  interna- 
tional compUcations.  It  was  estabhshed  standards 
that  Canadian  and  American  Labor  were  jealous 
of;  —  standards,  bestowed  in  part  by  Nature,  but 
won  also  in  part  through  struggle  and  self-denial. 

The  problem  of  immigration  from  the  Orient 
can  be  solved  with  satisfaction  to  the  peoples  of 
the  Orient,  as  well  as  with  justice  to  Labor  in 
America,  if  it  is  dealt  with  as  an  economic  problem, 
which  it  is;  not  as  a  problem  of  race,  or  color,  or 
creed,  which  it  is  not.  It  is  a  question  of  compet- 
ing labor  standards,  and  its  solution,  alike  for  the 
Orient  and  America,  hes,  not  in  permitting  the 
highest  standards  to  be  brought  to  the  level  of 
the  lowest,  but  in  seeking  to  raise  the  lowest  to  the 
level  of  the  highest.  In  this  vast  undertaking,  the 
Orient  and  the  Occident  have  each  much  to  learn 
from  the  other.  The  Occident  may  help  to  spread 
knowledge  of  the  industrial  arts  and  sciences,  and 


76  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

gain  acceptance  for  a  conception  of  the  value  of 
human  hfe  which  will  dignify  labor,  raise  the  status 
of  women  and  children,  put  limits  upon  excessive 
toil,  and  awaken  a  wider  interest  in  world  affairs. 
The  Orient  may  teach  something  of  thrift  and 
frugality,  of  the  happiness  which  comes  from  plain 
living  and  high  thinking,  and  of  obligation  in 
family  and  social  relations. 

The  Japanese,  once  they  understood  our  motives, 
showed  themselves  as  ready  to  meet  us  half-way, 
as  we  were  to  go  half-way  to  meet  them.  A  half- 
way meeting  was  essential.  Because  the  Chinese 
have  been  less  assertive,  we  have  presumed  upon 
our  superior  position  to  ignore  their  feehngs.  The 
exclusion  of  any  class  of  any  friendly  people  by 
the  imposition  of  a  poll-tax,  in  this  day  of  inter- 
national co-operation,  can  only  reflect  upon  the 
peoples  who  impose  it.  Let  the  operation  of  the 
Law  of  Competing  Standards  be  explained  sym- 
pathetically to  the  Chinese,  as  it  has  been  to 
the  Japanese  and  the  Indians,  and  as  respects 
emigration,  they  as  readily  will  find  means  of  ac- 
complishing a  restriction  of  numbers,  in  a  man- 
ner which  in  no  way  reflects  upon  their  race  or 
citizenship. 

I  am  glad  to  mention  here  a  fact  not  hitherto 
made  pubUc.  Before  leaving  for  China  as  a  member 
of  the  International  Opium  Commission,^  which 

*  A  phase  of  the  problem  of  Oriental  immigration  illustrative  of 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  77 

met  at  Shanghai  in  1909,  I  was  authorized  by  Sir 
Wilfrid  Laurier,  then  Prime  Minister  of  Canada, 
to  confer  with  the  Chinese  Government  respect- 
ing an  arrangement  between  China  and  Canada 
whereby  immigration  from  China  to  Canada 
might  be  regulated  by  international  agreement. 
At  the  time,  Chinese  immigration  to  Canada  was 
being  restricted,  as  it  still  is,  by  a  revenue-pro- 
ducing poll-tax,  which  serves  to  sell  into  slavery 
thousands  of  coohe  laborers,  and  which  meets 
with  questionable  efficiency  the  restriction  of  num- 
bers at  which  it  is  aimed.  The  project  of  finding 
a  substitute  for  the  obnoxious  poll-tax  had  the 
hearty  endorsation  of  the  British  Government, 
and  in  negotiating  the  terms  of  an  agreement,  for 
matters  developed  propitiously  to  that  point,  I 
had  the  counsel  and  support  of  Sir  John  Jordan, 
the  British  Minister  in  Peking.  There  remained 
little  more  than  the  formal  acceptance  by  the 
Governments  of  the  two  countries  of  the  terms  of 
the  agreement  tentatively  reached,  when  the  ques- 
tion of  Reciprocity  in  Trade  between  Canada  and 
the  United  States  came  up  as  the  burning  ques- 

one  of  the  many  bearings  of  the  Law  of  Competing  Standards  upon 
national  conditions  and  international  relations,  wiU  be  found  in  a 
report  I  prepared  for  the  Government  of  Canada  in  1908  on  The  Need 
for  the  Suppression  of  tfie  Opium  Traffic  in  Canada  (King's  Printer, 
Ottawa,  No.  36-b,  1908).  This  report  was  followed  by  the  enactment 
by  Parliament,  in  the  same  year,  of  An  Act  to  Prohibit  the  Importa- 
tion, Manufacture,  and  Sale  of  Opium  for  Other  than  Medicinal 
Purposes  (7-8  Edward  VII,  c.  5o). 


78  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

tion  in  Canadian  Politics.  It  was  decided  by  the 
Prime  Minister  to  defer  final  action  until  after 
this  question  had  been  disposed  of.  The  Canadian 
General  Elections  followed  in  September,  1911,  and 
the  Government  of  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  was  de- 
feated on  the  Reciprocity  issue.  About  the  same 
time,  the  Chinese  Revolution  occurred,  and  the 
Government  in  China  with  which  I  had  had  ne- 
gotiations disappeared  with  the  overthrow  of  the 
Monarchy  and  the  estabUshment  of  the  Chinese 
Republic.  It  would  be  hard  to  imagine  negotia- 
tions more  effectually  terminated !  However,  what 
the  negotiations  revealed  of  appreciation  by  the 
Chinese  of  the  significance  of  the  Law  of  Compe- 
ting Standards  as  affecting  international  relations, 
and  what  they  expressed  of  good-will  between  the 
British  and  Chinese  peoples  is  not  apt  to  be  for- 
gotten. Some  day,  like  efforts  will  be  resumed,  and 
a  happier  expression  given  to  professions  of  inter- 
national amity  and  respect  than  that  which  the 
poll-tax  suggests. 

However  much  the  tendency  toward  the  level- 
ling of  labor  standards  has  been  hitherto  restricted, 
from  now  on,  under  the  facilities  for  world  trans- 
portation, the  activities  of  world  finance,  and  the 
stress  of  the  many  other  forms  of  world  competi- 
tion, the  tendency  is  certain  to  make  itself  increas- 
ingly felt,  not  only  as  between  state  and  state, 
and  nation  and  nation,  but  also  as  between  con- 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  79 

tinent  and  continent.  In  new  countries,  the  tend- 
ency has  been  obscured  by  the  exploitation  of 
virgin  resources,  and  by  the  definite  limits  placed 
upon  competition,  where  population  is  sparse  at 
home  and  capital  insecure  abroad.  In  advanced 
communities,  it  has  been  offset  by  regulation, 
legislation,  and  organization  aimed  directly  against 
it.  Until,  however,  regulation  in  Industry  becomes 
uniform  and  world-wide,  until  industrial  standards 
in  all  countries,  and  among  all  peoples,  approxi- 
mate equality,  inventive  genius  may  be  expected 
to  provide  capital  with  facilities  for  linking  the 
earth's  resources  with  the  world's  markets,  regard- 
less altogether  of  the  effect  upon  higher  standards. 
Once  capital  is  secure  in  foreign  investment.  Indus- 
try may  be  expected  to  find  its  way  more  and  more 
into  those  parts  of  the  globe  where  mercenary 
rather  than  humane  considerations  are  determin- 
ing factors.  For  years  before  the  War,  much  of 
the  hand  embroidery  on  Parisian  gowns  had  been 
the  work  of  women,  not  in  France,  but  in  Southern 
China! 

The  same  Law  of  Competing  Standards  operates 
in  international  relations.  Nations  that  are  without 
regard  for  the  sanctity  of  obligation  make  difficult 
the  development  of  an  international  polity  upon 
a  basis  of  contract.  The  War  is  deciding  whether 
future  international  relations  are  to  be  on  a  basis 
of  contract  to  which  honorable  and  peace-loving 


80  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

nations  may  expect  adherence,  or  whether  civiUza- 
tion  is  to  revert  back  to  the  ethics  of  the  Stone  Age, 
where  status  and  not  contract,  Might  and  not 
Right,  are  determining  factors.  The  country  that 
adopts  a  mihtarist  type  of  organization  compels 
other  countries  to  follow  its  example,  or  submit  to 
its  insults.  The  undermining  influence  of  lower 
standards  upon  higher  has  no  more  conspicuous 
example  in  international  affairs  than  the  reluctant, 
though  necessary  resort  to  armed  force  by  the 
United  States  in  order  to  maintain  its  sovereign 
rights  against  German  ruthlessness  upon  the  high 
seas.    ' 

In  considering  standards,  whether  within  Indus- 
try or  between  nations,  there  cannot  be  too  clear 
discernment  between  personnel  and  materiel;  and 
between  what  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  means  to  an 
end  and  what  as  an  end  in  itself.  Industry  as  an 
end  in  itself  has  regard  only  for  material  values. 
Industry  as  a  means  to  an  end  is  concerned  with 
human  life.  As  an  end  in  itself,  Industry  stops 
short  at  production,  and  its  output  is  estimated  in 
material  terms;  as  a  means  to  an  end,  the  purpose 
of  Industry  extends  beyond  production  to  distribu- 
ition.  Its  value  to  human  society  can  be  rightly 
J  estimated  only  in  terms  of  the  effect  of  its  distri- 
^  ll  bution  upon  the  well-being  of  mankind. 

All  Industry  is  but  the  transformation  of  sub- 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  81 

stances  through  human  effort  aided  by  natural 
forces.  From  the  earth,  the  air,  and  the  water, 
substances  are  extracted  and  transformed  through 
human  effort  into  services  and  commodities  avail- 
able for  human  use.  By  exchange,  involving  dis- 
tribution, these  substances  pass  in  their  various 
stages  of  transformation  from  one  lot  of  workers  to 
another,  to  be  possessed  and  used  in  divers  ways 
of  satisfying  human  desire  and  need.^ 

It  is  as  a  transforming  process,  that  the  path 
of  Industry  is  beset  with  human  tragedy,  for  it  is 
there  that  too  often  the  workers  are  mistaken  as 
means  to  an  end,  instead  of  being  regarded  as  ends 
in  themselves.  It  may  well  be  that  the  co-opera- 
tion of  human  beings  with  machines  in  the  work 
of  production  is  responsible  for  this.  As,  however, 
production  is  a  necessary  preliminary  to  distribu- 
tion, the  methods  employed,  and  the  existing  labor 
standards  become  matters  of  first  concern.  In 
their  effect  upon  human  well-being,  standards  of 
employment  and  working  conditions  are  of  even 
greater  significance  than  the  subsequent  distrib- 
ution of  wealth  produced.  If  the  path  of  Indus- 
try as  a  transforming  process  can  be  made  clear 
of  injustices,  the  more  equitable  distribution  of 
wealth  will  have  already  begun.   It  is  in  attempt- 

^  For  a  careful  exposition  of  the  nature  of  Industry,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  a  volume  by  Logan  Grant  McPherson,  entitled  How  the 
World  Makes  lis  Living.  New  York,  The  Century  Co.,  1916,  refer- 
ence to  which  in  these  pages  is  hereby  acknowledged. 


82  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ing  to  clear  the  path  that  the  trend  toward  world 
expansion  in  Industry  presents  such  overwhelming 
difficulties.  It  becomes  apparent  at  last  that  the 
well-being  of  the  workers  in  one  part  of  the  world 
is  bound  up  with  the  well-being  of  workers  every- 
where, and  that  the  maintenance  of  labor  stand- 
ards in  any  one  country  comes,  sooner  or  later,  to 
depend  upon  their  extension  in  some  measure  to 
all. 

As  sharers  in  the  transforming  process,  workers 
in  Industry  are  a  means  to  an  end.  They  differ 
/from  other  means,  however,  in  remaining  also 
always  ends  in  themselves.  As  instruments  of 
production,  machines  may  become  of  equal  and 
even  of  superior  value  to  many  of  the  individuals 
who  contribute  effort  of  body  or  of  mind  to  their 
operation.  But  there  the  comparison  necessarily 
ceases.  To  estimate  relative  values  in  any  com- 
prehensive way,  a  standard  wholly  different  in 
kind  is  required.  The  two  are  not  the  same.  In 
the  one  case,  it  is  matter  or  material  substance 
that  is  being  gauged;  in  the  other,  it  is  human  life. 
What  value  we  will  place  upon  individuals 
engaged  in  the  processes  of  Industry  will  depend 
upon  the  estimate  we  put  on  human  hfe.  That  in 
turn  will  depend  on  the  conception  we  entertain 
of  the  nature  of  human  existence  and  its  destiny. 
"Spiritual  perceptions  precede  an  understanding 
of  social  and  economic  problems."   The  Christian 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  83 

ideal  of  human  existence  is  the  highest,  since  it 
endows  man  not  with  rational  quahties  alone,  but 
also  with  an  immortal  nature.  It  is  in  the  image 
of  God  Himself,  not  after  the  pattern  of  some  in- 
dustrial model,  that  all  men,  from  the  humblest 
to  the  greatest,  have  been  created.  There  can  be 
no  higher  conception  of  the  dignity  of  manhood, 
nor  of  the  possibihties  of  human  nature.  How  wide 
the  gulf  between  men  and  machines  under  such 
a  belief!  How  unmistakable  the  difference  be- 
tween the  material  wealth  which  Industry  creates, 
and  the  spiritual  ends  it  is  intended  to  serve! 
Other  views  may  compel  a  regard  for  human  life, 
but  none  can  inspire  the  reverence  for  it  that  the 
Christian  conception  does.  Beyond  all  that  pro- 
duction can  do,  there  comes  the  demand  for  a 
fuller  life,  —  a  life  not  of  greater  wealth,  but  of 
larger  vision;  a  hfe  not  of  richer  rewards,  but  of 
keener  perceptions  and  of  kindher  feehngs;  not  a 
hfe  of  material  satisfactions,  but  a  hfe  of  purer 
aims  and  nobler  realizations;  and  this,  not  only 
for  the  holders  of  stocks  and  bonds,  but  also  for 
the  multitudes  of  workers  whose  identities  are 
obhterated  in  the  industrial  processes  amid  which 
their  years  are  spent. 

Standards  that  fail  to  distinguish  between  per- 
sonnel and  materiel,  and  that  ignore  the  sacred- 
ness  of  human  life,  are  without  meaning  as  factors 
in  the  ultimate  solution  of  industrial  problems. 


84  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Wherever  men  and  nations,  in  their  industrial 
and  international  relations,  have  failed  to  realize 
the  fundamental  difference  between  material  ac- 
cumulations and  the  higher  purposes  of  human 
existence  which  material  things  are  intended  to 
serve,  sooner  or  later  conflict  has  followed.  No 
portion  of  Humanity,  any  more  than  the  beings 
of  which  it  is  composed,  can  long  endure  a  divided 
allegiance.  Mankind  cannot  serve  two  masters. 
The  human  spirit  will  rise  supreme  over  material 
considerations,  or  material  aims  will  destroy  the 
human  spirit.  Until  one  is  subservient  to  the  other, 
conflict  will  never  cease.  Material  force  may  con- 
quer material  force,  but  where  there  is  conflict 
between  the  material  and  the  spiritual,  because 
God-like  in  his  nature,  man  will  never  rest  until 
spirit  is  supreme. 

If  a  remedy  is  to  be  found  for  industrial  and 
international  ills,  the  search  must  be  illumined  by 
some  belief  in  a  lofty  destiny.  We  must  start  from 
a  point  of  view  wholly  different  from  that  in  which 
we  have  been  silently  acquiescing.  In  determining 
our  standards,  emphasis  must  be  laid,  first,  last,  and 
always,  not  upon  material,  but  upon  human  con- 
siderations. And  our  conception  of  the  human 
must  have  something  of  the  spiritual  about  it. 

Our  failure  to  work  out  a  satisfactory  solution  of 
inlernational  and  industrial  problems  is  because 
we  have  mistaken  completely  the  nature  of  the 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  85 

substances  with  which  we  have  to  deal.  Especially 
in  Industry  have  we  sought  to  S3ver  the  laborer 
and  his  labor;  to  take  account  of  labor  as  a  com- 
modity, and  as  so  much  material  value.  We  have 
been  willing  to  ignore  all  that  the  recognition  of 
personality  demands.  We  have  based  our  reason- 
ing on  this  as  a  material  universe,  when,  in  fact,  so 
far  as  human  personaUty  and  its  possibilities  go, 
the  universe  is  meaningless  apart  from  the  life 
of  the  spirit.  We  have  thought  of  Industry  as  an 
institution  of  purely  material  significance,  of  Na- 
tionality simply  as  an  abstraction;  whereas  the  un- 
folding of  spiritual  capacities,  which  both  should 
further  is  the  only  true  end  of  Life. 

Industry  and  Nationality  exist  for  the  sake  of 
Humanity,  not  Humanity  for  the  sake  of  Industry 
or  Nationality.  The  production  and  use  of  material 
wealth,  and  the  political  organization  of  society, 
can  be  of  enduring  value  to  mankind  only  in  so  far 
as  they  serve  to  advance  human  well-being.  This 
seems  so  obvious,  one  wonders  it  could  anywhere 
have  been  overlooked.  How  comes  it,  then,  that 
nowhere  in  human  affairs  has  indifference  to  funda- 
mental considerations  occasioned  greater  injustice 
than  in  Industry? 

Because  Industry  has  become  a  great  world 
affair,  it  is  inevitable,  as  has  already  been  sug- 
gested, that  those  who  are  responsible  for  its 


86  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

management  and  direction  should  concentrate 
their  thought  primarily  upon  quantity  of  output, 
and  accept  as  unavoidable,  sacrifices  in  human 
well-being  involved.  Moreover,  directors  and  offi- 
cers of  industrial  corporations  are  usually  in  the 
position  of  trustees.  The  capital  which,  for  the 
time  being,  they  control,  represents  the  savings  of 
men  and  women,  who  expect  returns  secured  by 
business  methods  and  unimpaired  by  philanthropy. 
What  is  business,  and  what  philanthropy,  is 
sometimes  difficult  to  decide.  Justice  as  a  criterion 
gives  way  very  often  to  prevailing  practice  and 
customary  procedure.  The  dictum,  "Business  is 
business,"  is  sometimes  cited  in  support  of  practices 
which,  apart  from  business,  would  be  regarded 
as  immoral.  Unfortunately,  what  to  appearances 
may  be  regarded  as  successful  business  may  be, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  well-being  of  society, 
the  gravest  of  calamities.  How  often  a  good  show- 
ing on  the  year's  business  becomes  the  all-impor- 
tant consideration!  Where  economies  have  to  be 
effected,  instead  of  regarding  Labor  as  the  factor 
in  production  entitled  to  first  consideration,  the 
short-sighted  and  mistaken  policy  not  infrequently 
obtains  of  viewing  Labor  as  of  less  importance 
than  organization  and  equipment.  Where  ma- 
chines become  impaired,  their  replacement  be- 
comes a  direct  charge  upon  the  cost  of  production. 
How  often  competition  makes  possible  the  substi- 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  87 

tution  of  fresh  workers  for  those  whose  energies 
have  been  exploited ! 

The  science  of  wealth  has  all  too  readily  been 
accepted  as  a  science  of  well-being.  Because  Po- 
litical Economy  has  had  to  do  with  Labor  and 
Capital,  and  with  the  production,  distribution,  and 
exchange  of  wealth,  it  has  been  assumed  that  what 
Political  Economy  sets  forth  as  laws  or  principles 
governing  the  production  of  wealth  are  necessarily 
laws  and  principles  which  should  govern  men  in 
all  the  relationships  arising  in  Industry.  PoUtical 
Economy,  as  a  consequence,  has  come  to  be  viewed 
as  a  heartless  and  dismal  science.  The  fault  is  not 
with  the  science  of  Political  Economy,  but  with 
those  who  have  confounded  its  nature. 

In  considering  Labor  and  Capital  as  factors  in 
the  production  of  wealth,  and  in  taking  account 
primarily  of  their  economic,  as  distinguished  from 
their  human  values,  Pohtical  Economy  is  but  con- 
fining its  scope  to  its  own  province.  Political  Econ- 
omy is  not  an  art  having  as  its  objective  the  im- 
provement of  society,  or  the  lot  of  the  individuals 
of  which  society  is  composed.  In  combination  with 
other  sciences,  it  may  contribute  towards  this  end, 
but  as  a  science  of  wealth,  it  is  with  wealth  alone, 
its  production,  distribution,  and  exchange,  that  Po- 
litical Economy  is  concerned. 

The  failure  to  remember  that  Political  Economy 
is  concerned  with  only  one  aspect  of  human  rela- 


88  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

tions,  and  that  it  therefore  necessarily  excludes 
many  others,  is  responsible  for  much  human  injus- 
tice. Some  of  the  best  of  men  hesitate  to  adopt 
methods  or  permit  changes  dictated  by  humanita- 
rian considerations,  because  of  a  more  or  less  hon- 
est conviction  that,  as  the  methods  or  changes  do 
not  appear  to  accord  with  the  precepts  of  Pohtical 
Economy,  they  cannot  be  of  enduring  value.  Such 
persons  forget  that  Political  Economy  is  not  con- 
cerned with  morals.  So  far  as  Political  Economy 
bears  a  relation  to  morality,  it  is  non-moral.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  being  avowedly  the  science  of 
wealth,  Pohtical  Economy  of  itself  affords  the 
strongest  of  reasons  for  adopting,  as  respects  hu- 
man well-being,  courses  of  action  quite  at  vari- 
ance with  assumptions  and  principles  which  relate 
primarily  to  material  considerations. 

Terminology,  also,  is  responsible  for  a  lack  of 
adequate  appreciation  of  the  essential  importance 
of  the  human  factor  in  Industrj^  Labor  and 
Capital  are  abstract  terms;  so  abstract,  that  they 
provoke  indifference  to  the  very  considerations 
their  usage  should  beget.  To  Capital,  concerned 
primarily  with  production,  Labor  signifies  an  eco- 
nomic source  to  be  drawn  upon  as  opportunity  and 
circumstances  permit.  It  is  one  of  the  "items"  in 
the  cost  of  production.  Only  remotely  does  it  sug- 
gest individual  human  lives.  Identified  as  Cap- 
ital has   become  with   corporate  entities  which 


THE  HUMAN  ASPECT  89 

have  neither  souls  to  be  saved,  nor  bodies  to  be 
kicked,  the  thought  that  capital,  with  a  small 
"c,"  may  also  be  entitled  to  a  large  "G"  as  repre- 
sentative of  human  lives  swayed  by  like  emotions, 
subject  to  like  passions,  and  influenced  by  ideals 
similar  to  those  which  sway  and  influence  the  rest 
of  mankind,  is  a  thought  which  seldom  presents  it- 
self to  Labor. 

Of  course,  there  is  a  profound  distinction  be- 
tween the  use  of  the  words  Capital  and  Labor  as 
applied  to  the  individuals  they  represent.  Capital 
is  power  controlled  by  an  individual,  and  power 
which  is  wholly  separable  from  any  particular 
being.  The  capitalist  and  his  capital  may  be 
separated;  not  so  the  laborer  and  his  labor.  They 
are  inseparable.  The  laborer  must  go  where  his 
labor  is  wanted.  His  life  and  person  are  a  part  of 
his  service.  The  power  his  labor  represents  can- 
not be  transferred  to  another.  Apart  from  himself, 
it  is  meaningless.  The  power  of  control  exerciseable 
through  capital  can  be  transferred.  The  transfer, 
however,  cannot  be  effected  to  any  except  other  in- 
dividuals. Apart  from  control  by  some  individual, 
capital  is  meaningless.  This  is  an  all-important 
circumstance  too  often  overlooked.  The  conditions 
which  bring  capital  into  being,  and  the  considera- 
tions which  determine  its  uses,  are  of  concern  only 
in  so  far  as  they  are  affected  by  human  motive, 
and  as  they  affect  human  life.  In  this  way,  capital 


90  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

becomes  entitled  to  its  large  "C,"  and,  apart  from 
the  human  factor,  has  little  or  no  significance. 

The  real  import  of  the  human  aspect  of  the 
problems  of  Industry  is  only  gradually  coming  to 
be  understood.  As  was  the  case  with  the  world 
aspect,  Labor  and  Capital  are  as  yet  a  long  way 
from  realizing  that  what  is  common  to  human 
nature  is  something  which  is  as  deserving  of  con- 
sideration in  the  other  as  in  itself.  When  Labor 
and  Capital,  and,  equally  also,  nation  and  nation, 
agree  to  set  aside  abstractions;  when  all  learn  to 
distinguish  between  wealth  and  well-being;  when 
each  sees  the  other  sensitive  to  that  to  which  it 
is  most  sensitive  itself;  when,  beneath  the  circum- 
stances of  fortune,  men  look  no  longer  to  the  pas- 
sions that  divide,  but  rather  to  the  sympathy  that 
unites,  recognize  the  common  sway  of  like  im- 
pulses and  feelings,  of  like  endeavors  and  aspira- 
tions, then  will  the  way  be  opened  to  a  better 
appreciation  by  each  of  the  many  difficulties  of 
the  other,  and  a  long  stretch  be  taken  on  the  road 
that  leads  to  common  understanding,  mutual  for- 
Jiearance,  and  enduring  peace. 


CHAPTER  IV 
CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS 

In  the  ancient  world,  the  mystery  of  existence 
found  one  of  its  many  expressions  in  the  Sphinx. 
In  Greece,  which  gave  to  Art  its  finest  conceptions 
of  strength  and  beauty,  this  creature  was  often- 
est  represented  by  the  winged  body  of  a  hon,  and 
the  head  of  a  woman.  In  Egyptian  antiquity,  the 
figure  was  of  somewhat  similar  shape,  having  the 
body  of  a  lion  and  most  generally  a  human  head. 
We  may  be  in  doubt  as  to  what  these  images  sym- 
bolized to  the  Ancients;  but  it  will  do  them  no 
injustice  to  assume  that,  like  ourselves,  the  peoples 
of  these  former  civilizations  recognized  the  god- 
like and  the  brute  in  man,  and  appreciated  the 
power  of  good  and  evil  in  all  human  beings.  It  is 
related  in  Greek  myth  that  this  she-monster  pro- 
posed a  riddle  to  the  Thebans  and  killed  all  who 
were  not  able  to  guess  it;  but  that  it  was  at  last 
solved  by  (Edipus,  whereupon  the  Sphinx  slew 
herself.  The  modern  world  professes  to  have  over- 
thrown heathen  superstition  and  idolatry.  We 
may  well  ask  ourselves  whether  the  image  of  the 
Sphinx  might  not  fittingly  find  a  place  at  the  doors 
of  our  temples  of  Nationahty  and  Industry'! 
If  through  Discovery  and   Invention,  and  the 


92  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ever-expanding  organization  of  Industry,  the  indus- 
trial areas  of  the  world  are  to  go  on  shifting,  and 
existing  industrial  processes  are  to  be  replaced 
continuously  by  other  processes  and  methods;  if 
physical  forces  newly  applied  on  earth,  and  in  the 
air,  and  upon  the  sea,  are  to  occasion  movements 
of  men  and  materials  in  ever-changing  directions, 
and  lead  to  continuous  displacement  of  one  class 
of  labor  by  labor  of  some  other  class,  and  the 
dilution  of  labor  of  all  classes  by  the  utilization 
of  new  powers  or  machines;  if  a  kind  of  Gresham's 
Law  is  ruthlessly  at  work  insidiously  dragging 
higher  standards  in  Industry  down  to  the  level  of 
lower  ones;  if  capital  is  as  capricious  as  fancy, 
and  as  sensitive  as  mercury;  above  all,  if  the 
individual  worker  has  become  a  mere  atom  con- 
tending against  titanic  powers,  whilst  local  influ- 
ences avail  but  little  against  the  sway  of  world 
forces,  —  wherein,  it  may  well  be  asked,  lies  the 
hope  of  any  solution  of  the  problem  of  Labor  ?  Is  a 
kind  of  social  anarchy  not  inevitable  ?  Can  there 
be  any  effective  method  of  adjustment  between 
Capital  and  Labor,  where  a  conflict  of  interest 
arises,  other  than  that  of  opposing  Force  by  Force, 
of  offsetting  the  power  of  increasing  accumula- 
tions of  capital,  by  increasing  aggregations  of  la- 
bor equally  powerful?  It  would  seem  almost  as 
if,  in  industrial  relations,  the  hopeless  view  might 
become  the  accepted  one,  just  as  the  idea  that 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  93 

national  well-being  is  inseparable  from  military 
power  and  domination  has  helped  in  the  councils 
of  nations  to  inspire  rivalry  in  armaments  — 
with  what  direful  consequences  the  world  is  wit- 
nessing to-day ! 

Fortunately,  the  facts  of  Industry  admit  of  con- 
clusions quite  the  opposite.  There  is  not  a  change 
in  the  evolution  of  Industry,  judged  by  what  it 
contains  of  potential  service  to  Humanity,  that 
has  not  brought  possibilities  of  ultimate  social  good 
far  outweighing  immediate  or  apparent  evil.  There 
is  scarcely  a  change  that  has  not  made  possible 
more  rapid  and  far-reaching  spread  of  ideas. 

Ideas  are  the  determining  factors.  The  minds 
of  men  are  interchanging  thought  to-day  as  never 
hitherto  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Never  before 
was  there  like  growth  in  knowledge  and  intelh- 
gence.  Never  before  did  the  spheres  of  organized 
social  effort  give  promise  of  so  rapid  and  vast  ex- 
pansion. Herein  hes  the  way  of  escape  from  what, 
in  the  maze  of  ever-changing  conditions,  seems  to 
render  the  Labor  Problem  impossible  of  solution. 
It  rests  with  man  to  determine  his  own  fate.  The 
social  order  is  not  unchangeable.  Like  all  the  rest, 
the  social  order  is  itself  subject  to  change  in  accord- 
ance with  ideas  that  may  be  made  to  prevail. 

Take,  first  of  all.  Discovery :  the  discovery  of  the 
earth's  surface,  its  resources  and  powers.   Every- 


94  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

where  under  its  sway,  the  world  has  had  to  read- 
just former  notions.  Schools  of  thought,  systems 
of  philosophy  and  organization,  vast  commercial 
and  industrial  enterprises,  have  had  to  change,  or 
go  by  the  board,  and  with  them,  the  ruin  of  reputa- 
tions and  of  men.  Who  is  there,  possessing  aught 
of  the  increase  of  knowledge  Discovery  has  brought, 
would  willingly  see  the  world  return  to  its  former 
ignorance?  Advance  is  of  the  very  essence  of  Dis- 
covery. It  is  in  the  nature  of  revelation.  All  prog- 
ress is  but  a  forward  movement  into  wider  vistas 
of  light  and  truth. 

If  the  discovery  of  America  meant  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  North  American  Indian,  it  meant 
also  the  planting  of  a  higher  civilization  on  the  con- 
tinent that  divides  the  great  oceans  of  the  world. 
If  it  made  possible  the  importation  of  slaves  from 
Africa,  it  made  possible  also  the  migration  of  the 
Puritans,  and  the  ultimate  abohtion  of  slavery  in 
America,  and  in  many  another  part  of  the  world. 
All  that  we  mean  by  enlightenment  is  the  fruit  of 
Discovery,  and  upon  Discovery  the  spread  of  en- 
lightenment throughout  the  world  depends. 

Is  not  greater  ultimate  good  true  also  of  Inven- 
tion? It  has  been  well  said  that  "it  is  the  nature 
of  Invention  to  create  surpluses";  that  "an  inven- 
tion means  that  the  same  results  are  got  with  less 
outlay  of  resources.  Either  more  sources  of  supply 
are  found,  or  the  existing  supplies  go  further,  so 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  95 

that  in  either  case  there  is  a  surplus  for  new  use. 
Or  else  there  is  a  surplus  of  effort,  less  work  being 
needed  to  get  the  supplies  and  make  them  avail- 
able. And  quite  usually  there  are  both  kinds  of 
surpluses  at  once,  so  that  more  supphes  are  got  for 
less  effort."  ^  In  how  many  directions  and  on  how 
unlimited  a  scale  has  this  been  the  case,  and  how 
salutary  are  many  of  the  consequences  that  have 
flowed  from  it!  Yet  every  new  invention  threatens  or 
injures  some  one.  As  is  well  known,  the  appHcation 
of  new  inventions  to  Industry  has  been  the  occasion 
of  much  friction  and  indeed  of  serious  uprisings. 

When  natural  power  was  first  apphed  to  weaving 
in  England,  riots  occurred,  and  the  power  looms 
and  frames  were  smashed.  It  was  thought  by  the 
weavers  that  they  were  about  to  have  their  means 
of  livehhood  taken  from  them.  Weaving  deserted 
the  cottages  and  forsook  the  farms  for  factories 
and  towns.  For  the  tens  and  hundreds  whose  loss 
of  employment  was  temporary,  thousands  secured 
permanent  employment  later  on.  Multitudes  have 
been  clothed  ever  since  who  would  have  gone 
scantily  clad,  had  weaving  remained  the  hand  in- 
dustry it  once  was. 

Some  years  ago  a  foreign  syndicate  sought  to 
introduce  railroads  into  China.  Permission  to  com- 
mence construction  was  obtained  from  the  author- 
ities only  upon  the  condition  that  a  horse  rail- 

*  D.  H.  Macgregor,  The  Evolution  of  Industry,  p.  3i.    London. 


96  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

road  and  not  a  steam  railroad  was  to  be  built.  The 
road  was  intended  to  be  a  model  one,  and  the  route 
selected  was  from  Shanghai  to  Woosung,  a  distance 
of  twelve  miles.  When  it  was  completed,  the  syn- 
dicate, beheving  opposition  would  soon  be  silenced, 
put  on  a  steam  engine,  the  parts  of  which  had  been  se- 
cretly brought  into  China  and  assembled  at  Shang- 
hai. Immediately  riots  occurred,  and  the  property 
of  the  company  was  destroyed  to  such  an  extent 
that,  to  ayoid  comphcations  with  foreign  govern- 
ments, the  Government  of  China  was  obliged  to 
purchase  the  road.  It  was  disposed  of  to  the  Chi- 
nese Government  on  the  condition  that  it  should 
be  operated  for  a  year.  The  Cliinese  Government 
executed  the  contract  in  good  faith.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  the  year,  however,  they  ripped  up  the  road, 
rails  and  ties,  and  together  with  other  equipment 
and  rolhng  stock  placed  the  whole  enterprise 
on  shipboard,  and  transported  it  to  the  Island  of 
Formosa.  There  it  was  dumped  upon  the  beach 
and  left,  a  thing  of  dread  to  the  solitudes  of  the 
great  waste.  Doubtless  the  act  was,  in  part,  one  of 
protest  against  the  deception  of  foreigners.  It  was 
even  more  an  exhibition  of  hatred  against  a  foreign 
invention.  The  foreign  syndicate's  mistaken  course 
delayed  the  introduction  of  railways  into  China 
for  a  number  of  years;  but  the  Chinese  themselves 
have  since  come  to  recognize  railroads  as  the  pio- 
neers of  a  new  civilization. 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  97 

The  behavior  of  Invention  is  one  vast  paradox. 
It  gives  by  seeming  to  withhold.  Not  infrequently 
it  reduces  the  inventor  to  poverty,  while  it  en- 
riches hundreds  who  have  never  heard  mention  of 
his  name.  If  it  robs  one  man  of  a  living,  by  the 
same  act  it  may  lessen  the  cost  of  Uving  to  thou- 
sands. Whilst  it  cuts  off  employment  in  one  direc- 
tion, in  others  it  opens  whole  avenues  of  fresh  op- 
portunity. If  it  has  made  machines  competitors 
with  men,  it  has  also,  through  machines,  reheved 
labor  of  much  of  its  drudgery.  If  it  lessens  the 
quantities  of  materials  and  labor  required  for  pro- 
duction, articles  affected  thereby  may  be  so  re- 
duced in  cost  as  vastly  to  enhance  the  demand 
for  like  materials  and  labor.  Moreover,  changes  in 
one  trade  stimulate  other  trades. 

At  the  time  of  its  introduction  in  England,  the 
steady  blast  in  furnaces,  made  possible  by  the  ap- 
plication of  power,  saved  sixty-six  per  cent,  of  the 
coal  required.  It  led  within  a  very  few  years  to  a 
greatly  increased  demand  for  coal,  through  the 
vastly  increased  manufacture  of  iron.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  substitution  of 
coal  for  wood  gave  a  stimulus  to  mining.  It  also 
led  to  expansion  in  the  iron  trades.  The  iron  trade 
led  to  an  expansion  of  the  canal  system;  which  in 
turn  led  to  the  development  of  new  industries.  Es- 
pecially has  this  kind  of  effect  been  true  of  the  in- 
ventions that  have  gone  to  cheapen  the  cost  of 


98  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

transportation  and  communication.  Trade  has  been 
so  stimulated  as  to  increase  demand  all  round.  As 
human  power  was  replaced  by  w^ater  power,  and 
water  power  by  steam  and  electricity,  the  output 
of  Industry  ceased  to  be  restricted  by  the  numbers 
of  individuals  to  be  found  in  particular  locahties, 
or  to  be  limited  by  their  proximity  to  the  sources 
of  power,  fuel,  and  materials.  The  possibilities  of 
production  increased  indefinitely.  Changes  of  the 
kind  have  gone  on  developing,  and  the  circle  of 
their  influence  has  widened  until  they  have  be- 
come operative  on  a  world  scale.  It  is  the  story  of 
industrial  expansion.  It  has  meant  a  vast  increase 
in  quantity,  an  improvement  in  quality,  and  a  les- 
sening in  cost  of  both  services  and  commodities 
available  for  human  use. 

If  antagonism  to  Invention  has  been  considera- 
ble, how  much  greater  has  been  the  opposition 
aroused  by  the  development  of  the  organization  of 
Industry  on  a  large-scale!  Possibly  no  prejudice 
has  surpassed  in  intensity  that  which  has  been  felt 
against  "  Capitalism."  Nor  are  there  lacking  ample 
grounds  for  the  prejudice.  In  the  first  place,  the 
substitution  of  large-scale  organization  in  Industry 
for  the  domestic  system,  made  possible  by  capital- 
ist direction  in  the  last  century  and  a  half,  has 
wrought  more  change  in  the  social  order  than  the 
combined  forces  of  many  preceding  centuries.  The 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  99 

transition  has  been  accompanied  by  inconceivable 
hardship  and  injustice.  The  large-scale  organiza- 
tion of  Industry  has  been  mainly,  if  not  all  but  ex- 
clusively, responsible  for  the  shifting  of  industrial 
areas,  the  subdivision  of  industrial  processes,  the 
divorce  between  agriculture  and  manufacturing, 
the  congestion  of  cities,  the  rivalry  between  men 
and  machines,  the  increased  competition  of  for- 
eign with  domestic  labor,  and  the  competition  of 
women  and  children  with  men.  It  has  helped  to 
break  up  communities  and  households,  and  to 
scatter  their  famihes  over  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 
Worst  of  all,  it  has  occasioned  the  instabihty  charac- 
teristic of  modern  industrial  hfe,  and  has  rendered 
inevitable  the  commercial  depressions,  the  financial 
panics,  and  the  violent  industrial  crises  which  have 
become  recurring  phenomena  of  our  times. 

Under  the  domestic  system,  trade  was  localized, 
production  was  for  the  home  market.  If  employed 
in  manufacturing,  the  worker,  through  being  asso- 
ciated with  the  land,  had  another  string  to  his  bow: 
he  had  the  opportunity  of  raising  products  and  using 
pubUc  pasture.  If  engaged  in  agriculture,  he  had 
the  possibihty  of  adding  to  his  earnings  through 
weaving  in  his  own  home.  In  agriculture  and 
manufacturing  there  were  two  sources  of  income. 
One  or  the  other  gave  way  with  the  divorce  of  In- 
dustry from  the  land,  which  was  coincident  with 
the  divorce  of  Labor  and  Capital. 


100  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Once  Industry  was  organized  on  a  basis  of  com- 
petition with  the  outside  world,  and  a  vast  external 
trade  developed,  it  was  inevitable  that  the  sudden 
cutting  off  of  one  trade  should  produce  great  suffer- 
ing. Wherever  there  is  expansion,  there  is  neces- 
sarily the  possibility  of  contraction.  Where  raw 
materials  are  brought  from  abroad  and  the  markets 
for  the  sale  of  material  are  distant  or  foreign,  in- 
stead of  proximate  and  local,  shortage  of  materials 
or  closing  of  markets  inevitably  disturbs  the  whole 
system  of  trade  and  industry.  Workers  are  thrown 
out  of  employment.  If  dependent  solely  on  wages, 
their  lot  is  doubly  precarious.  Such  is  the  nature  of 
Industry  as  it  exists  in  large  part  to-day. 

With  fluctuations  in  wages,  have  come  also  fluc- 
tuations in  prices.  In  the  middle  ages,  both  as  re- 
gards food  and  fuel,  the  artisan  was  certain  of  Httle 
change.  Under  the  stress  of  world  competition  and 
fluctuations  in  trade,  the  cost  of  hving  has  become 
subject  to  constant  variations.  Sometimes  it  is 
lower,  sometimes  it  is  higher  than  at  others,  but  it 
is  never  wholly  stable.  So,  as  respects  both  income 
and  outlay,  the  modern  worker  lives  subject  to  the 
play  of  forces  wholly  beyond  his  control.  Real 
wages  are  dependent  upon  prices  that  are  subject 
to  fluctuations;  nominal  wages  are  dependent  upon 
employment,  which  fluctuates  with  the  fluctuations 
in  trade.  ^   Fluctuations  in  trade  are  influenced  by 

1  Adam  Smith  says:  "The  real  wages  of  labour  may  be  said  to 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  101 

fluctuations  in  credit;  and  credit  is  so  sensitive  as 
to  be  affected  by  variations  in  policies  and  even  in 
opinion ! 

Most  men  are  compelled  to  experience  some  of 
the  hardships  incidental  to  the  instabiUty  of  mod- 
ern Industry.  Simultaneously  they  witness  the  se- 
curity wealth  affords  its  possessors.  They  realize 
that  large-scale  enterprise  has  helped  to  create 
fabulous  fortunes.  Is  it  any  wonder  they  should 
come  to  identify  a  form  of  industrial  organization 
with  but  some  of  its  effects,  and  overlook  other 
consequences  more  important  in  their  social  bear- 
ings? Being  sensitive  to  immediate  needs,  and 
knowing  little  of  world  conditions,  is  it  strange  the 
majority  of  men  should  fail  to  see  that  a  form  of 
Industry  suited  to  self-contained  communities  is  no 
longer  possible  under  a  transition  which  has  sub- 
stituted world  for  local  markets,  and  interdepend- 
ence for  self-sufficiency  in  Industry  and  Trade? 

Men  have  rightly  recognized  the  power  for  evil 
which  hes  in  the  control  of  vast  organization  in  In- 
dustry, and  of  vast  wealth.  They  have  been  horri- 
fied by  exposures  of  manifest  wrongs.  What  so  many 
fail  to  see  is  that  large  organization  of  Industry  and 
vast  wealth  are  in  themselves  neither  good  nor  evil. 

consist  in  the  quantity  of  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of  life 
that  are  given  for  it;  its  nominal  wages  in  the  quantity  of  money.  .  . . 
The  labourer  is  rich  or  poor,  is  well  or  ill  rewarded,  in  proportion  to 
the  real,  not  to  the  nominal,  price  of  his  leibour."  Wealth  of  Nations^ 

I,  V. 


102  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

The  control  of  either  may  contribute  to  vast  injus- 
tice; it  equally  affords  opportunity  for  the  largest 
measure  of  service  to  mankind.  Under  present-day 
conditions,  both  accumulations  of  wealth  and  large- 
scale  organization  in  Industry  would  be  neces- 
sary were  every  individual  capitahst  to  be  deposed, 
and  his  possessions  forfeited  to  and  administered 
by  the  State.  Were  the  socialist  state  to  come  into 
being  to-morrow,  under  a  regime  of  world  competi- 
tion the  capitahst  form  of  industrial  organization 
would  still  be  necessary.  The  "State"  might  in 
theory  own  all;  the  existing  wage-system  might 
disappear;  individual  capitahsts  might  cease  to 
exist.  In  actual  practice,  "pohtical  managers" 
would  be  substituted  for  "capitalist  managers." 
Though  differently  controlled,  the  capitalist  form 
of  large  organization  of  Industry,  with  its  division 
of  labor,  its  division  of  industrial  processes,  and  its 
divisions  of  industrial  areas,  would  still  remain. 

It  is  not  against  the  form,  but  against  the  possi- 
ble abuses,  of  industrial  organization,  whatever 
the  system,  that  protests  should  be  uttered.  The 
nation  that  sought  to  abandon  its  present  for 
earlier  forms  would  lose  its  industries  altogether. 
No  form  of  Industry  unadapted  to  conditions  of 
world  competition  can  any  longer  hope  to  survive. 
Against  the  abuses  which  large  and  powerful  or- 
ganization makes  possible,  against  evils  to  which 
it  may  give  rise,  too  much  in  the  way  of  criticism 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  103 

cannot  be  directed.  Clear  discernment  between  a 
form  of  organization  and  possible  abuses  under  it, 
whether  the  control  be  individual  or  collective,  will 
save  much  confusion,  and  make  possible  speedier 
adjustment  of  existing  wrongs. 

The  problem  of  the  distribution  of  wealth  pre- 
sents considerations  separate  and  distinct  from 
those  of  the  problem  of  the  production  of  wealth. 
It  is  well  that  this  should  be  discerned.  It  is  only 
by  clear  and  definite  perceptions  that  it  is  at  all 
possible  to  hope  to  thread  the  industrial  maze 
towards  the  goal  of  ampler  justice  in  human  rela- 
tions. Vast  production  of  wealth  makes  a  wider 
distribution  at  least  possible.  With  unlimited  pro- 
duction there  may  be  marked  inequahties  in  in- 
dividual fortunes;  the  lot  of  the  many,  notwith- 
standing, may  be  improved.  With  population  ever 
increasing,  increased  production  alone  makes  possi- 
ble general  improvement.  How  distribution  is  to  be 
more  equitably  effected  is  a  problem  of  Education 
and  Government.  Humanity  stands  to-day  in  re- 
lation to  world  production  where  man  stood,  at  the 
beginning,  in  relation  to  Nature,  only  their  posi- 
tions are  reversed.  Man,  not  Nature,  is  now  in 
control.  The  problem  of  the  possible  production  of 
all  but  unlimited  wealth  is  already  solved.  Growth 
in  human  intelligence  has  wrought  this  achieve- 
ment. Surely  human  intelligence  may  be  reUed 
upon  to  see  that  the  problem  of  distribution,  to 


104  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

which  the  production  of  wealth  is  a  necessary  pre- 
liminary, will  also  find  an  equitable  solution. 

Most  important  of  all  the  results  of  large-scale 
organization  of  Industry  has  been  its  effect  upon 
production.  It  has  gained  the  world-sway  it  holds 
because  it  has  rendered  possible  an  all  but  unlim- 
ited output.  Under  the  domestic  system,  only  a  very 
limited  production  was  possible.  The  total  wealth 
resulting  from  Industry  could  never  exceed  what 
human  labor,  assisted  by  such  implements  and  tools 
as  human  ingenuity  had  devised,  could  produce 
from  the  materials  at  hand.  With  scanty  resources, 
small  markets,  and  restricted  methods  of  manu- 
facture, every  individual  might  be  busily  employed, 
and  the  total  wealth  of  an  industrial  community 
continue  comparatively  small.  Once  Discovery 
disclosed  resources  in  all  parts  of  the  globe,  once 
man's  inventive  genius  taught  him  how  to  harness 
the  powers  of  Nature,  and  improved  means  of 
transportation  and  communication  enabled  him  to 
traverse  all  lands  and  seas  in  search  of  materials 
and  markets,  nothing,  save  the  amount  of  capital 
available  for  investment  in  Industry,  could  longer 
place  a  limit  on  total  production.  By  facilitating 
the  development  of  resources  wherever  found, 
and  furthering  the  manufacture  of  commodities 
and  their  distribution  to  markets  the  world  over, 
large-scale  organization  of  Industry  has  made  pos- 
sible production  of  wealth  wherewith  to  meet  the 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  105 

needs  of  mankind  in  a  measure  which  surpasses 
the  dreams  of  by-gone  centuries.  It  is  in  this  very 
form  of  organization  of  Industry  that  the  hope, 
not  the  despair,  of  Labor  hes. 

Large-scale  organization  is  the  one  thing  that 
makes  possible  effective  control  of  Industry  by  the 
State.  What  would  the  problem  of  State  control 
be  at  the  present  time  were  individual  control  of 
transportation,  shipbuilding,  fuel,  power,  muni- 
tions, and  foodstuffs  distributed  as  it  was  a  cen- 
tury ago! 

Large-scale  organization  of  Industry,  by  render- 
ing possible  increased  production  with  gradual  les- 
sening of  human  effort,  has  paved  the  way  for  the 
substitution  of  Democracy  for  Serfdom.  Where 
production  was  carried  on  under  a  regime  of  tools, 
it  was  limited  by  individual  human  effort.  Under 
such  conditions,  constant  and  unremitting  toil  was 
necessarily  the  lot  of  the  many;  opportunity  of 
leisure,  the  privilege  of  a  favored  few.  In  the 
Greek  city-state,  which  represented  the  highest 
degree  of  culture  in  the  ancient  world,  citizenship 
was  restricted  to  those  in  a  position  to  live  upon 
the  fruits  of  the  labor  of  others.  The  workers  were 
not  even  freemen;  they  were  slaves,  politically  as 
well  as  industrially.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
economic  position  of  Labor  improved  with  the 
gradual  introduction  of  money  payments.  Yet 
wherever  the  manorial  system  prevailed,  or  the 


106  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

towns  and  cities  remained  the  units  of  social  organi- 
zation, and  Industry  was  regulated  by  the  guild, 
the  mass  of  men  had  little  or  no  voice  in  the  affairs 
of  government.  Not  until  barriers  were  broken 
down  in  a  multitude  of  directions  did  the  proleta- 
riat know  aught  of  political  freedom.  Some  leisure 
to  consider  the  problems  of  the  State,  some  freedom 
of  movement  both  in  time  and  place,  the  rudiments 
of  an  education,  and  a  measure  of  economic  inde- 
pendence, —  all  these  are  essential  to  a  proper  ex- 
ercise of  the  rights  of  citizenship.  For  the  mass  of 
men  these  possessions  may  still  be  far  from  what 
they  should  be,  but  they  are  enjoyed  at  the  pres- 
ent time  in  fuller  measure  than  at  any  previous 
period  in  history.  Whilst  other  factors  have  con- 
tributed, it  has  been  the  production  of  wealth  on 
the  scale  rendered  possible  by  the  capitaUst  or- 
ganization of  Industry  which  has  permitted  the 
shortening  of  the  hours  of  labor  and  made  possible 
the  rewards  of  effort,  the  educational  and  other 
facilities,  which  account  in  such  large  measure 
for  increased  political  activity  under  the  enlarged 
franchise  of  to-day. 

Sir  Henry  Maine  has  shown  that  it  is  the  move- 
ment from  status  to  contract  in  organized  society 
which  distinguishes  advanced  communities  from 
barbarous.  As  respects  the  countries  of  the  world 
in  their  international  relations,  a  like  evolution, 
as  already  pointed  out,  would  seem  to  be  in  prog- 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  107 

ress  at  the  present  time.  Above  all  else,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  as  an  outcome  of  the  present  war,  na- 
tions hereafter  will  recognize  contract  as  the  basis 
of  world  civilization,  and  that  an  end  will  be  put  to 
the  barbarity  which  seeks  justification  in  the  doc- 
trine that  Might  makes  Right.  If  such  a  condition 
of  international  polity  should  be  effected,  the  or- 
ganization of  Industry  on  an  ever-expanding  scale 
will  have  contributed  in  no  small  measure  to  the  re- 
sult. The  interdependence  of  modern  nations  which 
arises  from  the  division  of  industrial  processes  and 
the  geographical  distribution  of  Industry,  demands 
the  recognition  of  the  contractual  basis  as  the 
only  basis  on  which  Industry  can  hope  to  prosper. 
More  and  more,  international  interdependence  be- 
gotten of  large-scale  organization  in  Industry  will 
compel  respect  for  the  sanctity  of  obligation  on  the 
part  of  nations.  From  a  recognition  of  contract  as 
the  fundamental  condition  of  world  civilization,  it 
is  but  a  step  to  an  International  Court  of  Justice 
with  authority  to  decide  on  controversies  that 
arise,  and  to  a  League  of  Nations  supported  by  an 
international  police  sufficiently  powerful  to  enforce 
all  decrees. 

Whilst  the  change  from  a  natural  to  a  money 
economy,  and  the  severance  of  Capital  and  Labor, 
destroyed  the  immediate  personal  relations  existing 
under  the  old  domestic  system,  they  helped  bring 


108  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

to  workingmen  a  wider  measure  of  personal  inde- 
pendence. If  the  cash  nexus  has  broken  the  bond 
of  personal  security,  it  has  broken  also  the  yoke  of 
personal  subordination.  The  relations  of  master 
and  journe>Tnan  were  those  of  superior  and  in- 
ferior; the  relations  of  employer  and  employee  are 
becoming  more  and  more  those  of  citizens  in  In- 
dustry. The  employer  sells  opportunity  of  service, 
which  brings  him  a  return  in  the  form  of  interest  on 
capital  invested;  the  employee  sells  his  services, 
which  bring  him  a  return  in  the  form  of  wages.  In 
selhng  his  services,  the  employee  does  not  necessa- 
rily sell  himself.  This  was  too  often  the  case  under 
a  system  surrounded  by  restrictions  as  to  move- 
ment both  in  place  and  time,  and  of  which  the 
personal  relationship  was  the  outstanding  feature. 
The  position  of  the  workingman  has  changed  in 
modern  communities  from  one  based  on  status  to 
one  based  on  contract.  No  longer  does  the  obliga- 
tion to  labor  arise  from  the  inferior  status  of  serf, 
permitting  no  freedom  of  choice  on  the  part  of  the 
worker  as  to  where  and  by  whom  his  services  are 
to  be  employed.  The  present-day  relationship  of 
employer  and  employee  is  one  of  obligation  arising 
out  of  contract,  and  one  which  presupposes  equal- 
ity of  the  parties  before  the  law.  Too  often  the 
contract  remains  implied;  too  often  it  is  a  one-sided 
affair,  so  that  the  semblance  to  status  remains  in 
many  cases  stronger  than  it  otherwise  should  be. 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  109 

Theoretically,  however,  the  idea  of  duties  based  on 
status  has  been  superseded  by  a  conception  of  con- 
tractual rights  as  well  as  duties  in  all  industrial 
relations.  The  freedom  of  movement  afforded  by 
modern  agencies  of  communication  and  transpor- 
tation, and  increasing  opportunities  of  voluntary 
association,  are  tending  to  make  practice  and  the- 
ory more  and  more  conform. 

If  Capital  has  been  a  disintegrating  factor, 
breaking  up  famihes,  and  scattering  individuals  as 
atoms  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  more  than  any  other 
agency  it  has  also  been  responsible  for  bringing  to- 
gether individuals  in  groups  and  communities,  and 
making  possible  an  ever-increasing  measure  of  as- 
sociated effort.  The  right  and  power  of  voluntary 
association  has  been  made  possible  by  Capital 
through  the  change  from  a  system  of  industrial  re- 
lations based  on  status  to  one  based  on  contract. 
The  Trade  Union  and  Co-operative  movements, 
the  growth  of  Friendly  Societies,  developments  in 
Co-partnership  and  Profit-sharing,  these  and  other 
forms  of  associated  effort  have  come  into  being  in 
virtue  of  the  very  forces  which  have  occasioned 
also  a  change  from  stability  to  instability  in  the 
position  of  the  worker,  and  which  severed  the  per- 
sonal relationships  that  were"  an  outstanding  fea- 
ture of  the  old  order.  Nor  has  voluntary  association 
been  restricted  to  groups  within  any  one  nation. 
The   Trade  Union  and  the  Co-operative  move- 


no  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ments  have  become  international.  Federations,  Con- 
gresses, and  Conventions  representative  of  many 
countries,  have  become  a  feature  of  nearly  all  social 
movements.  As  the  cHmax  of  co-operative  effort, 
the  world  has  seen  the  free  nations  of  the  earth 
sharing  hke  sacrifices  in  the  preservation  of  human 
liberty.  The  transfer  at  will  of  capital  from  one 
portion  of  the  globe  to  another  has  made  pos- 
sible the  co-operation  of  the  alhed  nations  in  the 
present  war.  The  power  of  united,  co-operative 
effort,  convincingly  demonstrated  against  a  com- 
mon enemy  in  time  of  war,  is  equally  a  factor  for 
social  amelioration  in  times  of  peace. 

With  Labor  restricted  to  one  locality  or  estate, 
there  may  have  been  stability,  but  very  often  there 
was  also  stagnation.  In  what  it  has  permitted  of 
freedom  in  the  management  of  time,  and  of  facility 
of  movement  from  place  to  place,  Capital  has 
tended  to  promote  personal  liberty.  It  is  true  that 
while  the  serf  was  bound  to  the  soil,  the  soil  was 
also  bound  to  the  serf.  In  this  particular,  as  well 
as  in  the  personal  responsibility  which  masters  had 
for  the  care  of  their  slaves,  many  a  serf  and  many 
a  slave  of  former  times  was  better  off  than  some  of 
the  toilers  in  Industry  to-day.  If  instead  of  regard- 
ing only  the  high  lights  in  the  one  case  and  the 
shadows  in  the  other,  we  take  a  bird's-eye  view, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  by  facihtating  change  in 
employment  and  the  severance  of  uncongenial  re- 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  111 

lationships,  Capital  has  greatly  helped  to  remove 
what  is  often  most  irksome,  if  not  most  burden- 
some, in  human  lives.  Capital  not  only  makes  it 
possible  for  Labor  in  one  locality  or  calhng  to  take 
advantage  of  better  opportunities  in  other  localities 
and  callings,  but  it  actually  searches  out  Labor  to 
this  very  end.  By  its  very  power  of  disintegration, 
Capital  has  helped  to  diffuse  the  arts  and  indus- 
tries in  a  manner  destined  to  raise  the  level  of  hu- 
man well-being  throughout  the  globe.  The  world 
over,  it  has  helped  to  destroy  barriers  to  progress. 
The  advance  of  civiUzation  is  measured  no  longer 
by  the  favored  position  of  the  privileged  few,  but 
by  the  improved  condition  in  the  lot  of  the  many. 
The  loss  of  stability  which  characterizes  modern 
industrial  conditions  may  seem  to  outweigh,  at 
times,  the  advantages  of  the  combined  gains.  Un- 
certainty in  anything  is  trying.  Its  terrors  are  most 
of  all  felt  where  they  relate  to  health  and  subsist- 
ence. No  words  can  do  justice  to  sufferings  endured 
from  these  causes  by  workers  the  world  over.  In 
normal  times,  uncertainty  in  some  measure  is  ever 
present.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  what  must  be 
the  anxieties  of  families,  dependent  upon  precarious 
earnings,  in  times  of  industrial  depression,  or  panic. 
Still  at  no  previous  period  in  the  world's  history 
have  the  problems  of  inconstancy  of  employment 
and  the  causes  of  unemployment  received  like  at- 
tention from  investigators  and  governments.  Con- 


112  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

siderable  advance  has  been  made,  both  by  volun- 
tary and  State  action,  in  preventing  and  meeting 
the  emergencies  to  which  modern  Industry  gives 
rise.  More  and  more  as  voluntary  effort  has  proven 
inadequate,  the  State  has  exhibited  a  tendency  to 
come  to  the  rehef  of  the  worker  in  the  perils  of  his 
isolated  position. 

Under  conditions  of  world-wide  competition,  Hu- 
manity, not  less  than  Industry,  is  becoming  in- 
creasingly sensitive  over  ever-widening  areas.  Never 
before  were  the  wants  of  one  locality  so  quickly 
known  to  others,  or  the  resources  of  all  parts  made 
so  readily  available  to  meet  particular  needs.  Never 
were  the  agencies  of  relief  what  they  are  in  number 
and  strength  at  the  present  time.  There  is  this 
about  powerful  combination,  whether  it  be  of  Capi- 
tal, of  Labor,  or  of  Government,  that  its  knowledge 
of  conditions  and  its  command  of  resources  where- 
with to  cope  with  difficulties  are  greater  than  those 
of  lesser  units.  The  record  of  actual  occurrences 
goes  to  show  that  where  the  call  upon  any  of  these 
agencies  has  been  urgent,  it  has  seldom  failed  of 
quick  response.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that,  as 
there  comes  a  fuller  understanding  of  the  world 
scale  on  which  economic  forces  operate,  regulation 
more  and  more  on  a  world  scale  will  also  follow.  If 
for  no  reason  other  than  that  of  maintaining  their 
own  standards,  the  advanced  nations  may  be  ex- 
pected to  share  with  increasing  zeal  in  the  task  of 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  113 

raising  standards  elsewhere,  and  of  bringing  about 
that  measure  of  effective  co-operation  which  will 
best  promote  the  common  interests  of  mankind. 

The  forces  which  have  brought  the  peoples  of 
the  w^orld  into  competition  are  also  the  forces  which 
are  helping  to  further  a  world  unity.  They  are  the 
forces  that  have  compelled  recognition  of  Human- 
ity's common  interests.  As  respects  fundamental 
human  needs,  they  will  yet  break  all  barriers  of 
class  and  nationality.  All  that  has  tended  to  make 
the  world  increasingly  one,  and  to  render  interna- 
tional conflict  on  a  world  scale  possible,  has  within 
itself  also  the  power  to  create  a  world  harmony  under 
the  spread  of  right  ideas.  Industry  and  the  wealth 
that  Industry  creates  are  means  to  this  mighty 
end.  A  Commonwealth  founded  on  Industry,  not  a 
World-Empire  maintained  by  Force,  will  prove  the 
last  word  in  industrial  and  political  development. 

If  changes  in  Industry  which  have  occasioned 
despair  have  also  revealed  grounds  for  the  highest 
hope,  is  there  not  somewhere  in  this  remarkable 
paradox  a  clue  to  the  riddle  propounded  by  the 
modern  Sphinx?  Is  it  not  that  the  brute  instinct  of 
Fear  must  give  way  to  the  Sublime  quality  of  Faith? 
It  is  to  the  head,  not  to  the  body  of  the  Sphinx,  we 
must  look  for  inspiration.  Reason,  not  Force,  must 
control.  The  Perfect  Man,  not  the  Perfect  Brute, 
is  the  purpose  back  of  all  creation. 


114  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Poetical  expression  has  been  given  this  thought 
in  the  following  beautiful  lines  by  the  late  WilUam 
Wilfred  Campbell :  — 

"Teach  me  the  lesson  that  Mother  Earth 
Teacheth  her  children  each  hour, 
When  she  keeps  in  her  deeps  the  basic  root. 
And  wears  on  her  breast  the  flower. 

"And  as  the  brute  to  the  basic  root 
In  the  infinite  cosmic  plan, 
So  in  the  plan  of  the  Infinite  Mind 
The  flower  of  the  brute  is  man."  ^ 

The  flower  of  civilization  lies  in  the  perfection  of 
manhood,  not  in  vast  increase  of  material  wealth 
or  material  force.  Industry  exists  for  the  sake  of 
Humanity,  not  Humanity  for  the  sake  of  Industry. 
As  already  observed,  this  is  equally  true  of  Na- 
tionality. The  root  of  the  world's  present  distress 
is  to  be  found  in  a  fundamentally  wrong  philos- 
ophy. How  different  the  story  of  the  world's  rela- 
tions would  be  to-day  had  the  Brute  in  the  name  of 
the  State  not  been  permitted  to  control  the  Man ! 

In  human  relations,  whether  political  or  indus- 
trial, the  Contrary  Laws  described  by  Pasteur  have 
found  expression,  in  one  form  or  another,  in  the 
age-long  struggle  of  freedom  against  domination. 
Indifferent  to  the  sacrifice  of  human  life,  and  regard- 

1  "  Invocation."   The  Sagas  of  Vaster  Britain.  The  Musson  Book 
Co.,  Toronto,  igi^. 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  115 

less  of  the  burdens  placed  upon  it,  domination  has 
wrought  out  its  will  in  accordance  with  the  Law  of 
Blood  and  of  Death.  Freedom,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  sought  to  extend  its  sway  in  obedience  to  the 
Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health,  cherishing  all  hu- 
man life,  and  scrupulously  seeking  to  unfold  its 
every  capacity.  The  brute  seeks  domination ;  man, 
an  ampler  freedom.  Man  ascends  from  his  lower  to 
his  higher  nature  as  within  himself  the  love  of  free- 
dom transforms  the  desire  for  domination.  So  also 
in  the  domain  of  Politics  and  Industry,  all  progress 
is  to  be  measured  by  the  degree  to  which  a  desire 
for  domination  is  overborne  by  a  love  of  freedom. 
Freedom  means  the  elimination  of  Fear.  As  Fear 
diminishes,  Freedom  becomes  a  reality.  Nations 
and  men  become  free  as  their  fears  vanish.  This 
has  been  true  at  all  periods  in  history,  and  is  true 
of  all  departments  of  life.  The  fear  begotten  of  ar- 
bitrary power  delayed  constitutional  government; 
the  fear  of  the  inquisition  withheld  religious  liberty; 
the  fear  of  imprisonment  checked  the  freedom  of 
the  press  and  pubhc  assembly.  In  a  thousand  and 
one  directions,  men  have  less  to  fear  to-day  for 
their  property  and  their  persons  than  they  had  a 
few  centuries  ago;  freedom  has  increased  to  that 
extent.  And  yet  Fear,  in  industrial  and  interna- 
tional relations,  is  far  from  having  fled  this  world. 
At  how  great  cost  to  freedom  the  fear  of  war  has 
been  maintained,  the  desolation  of  Europe  tells! 


116  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

In  Industry,  new  fears  have  arisen,  begotten  of 
the  changes  which  Industry  has  undergone,  and 
the  conditions  it  has  helped  to  create.  The  growth 
of  cities  and  congested  industrial  areas  has  in- 
creased the  dangers  of  conflagration,  infection, 
and  contagion.  The  use  of  machinery  and  of  the 
powers  of  steam  and  electricity  has  enhanced  the 
possibihties  of  accident  and  of  sudden  death.  The 
rapid  and  exacting  nature  of  mechanical  proc- 
esses, and  the  unwholesomeness  of  many  industrial 
occupations  and  surroundings  have  lessened  op- 
portunities to  advancing  years  and  have  brought 
new  risks  to  vitality  and  health.  The  increase  in 
the  employment  of  women  and  young  persons  has 
occasioned  new  problems  of  nerv^ous  strain  and  of 
parentage.  The  interdependence  of  industries,  the 
subdivision  of  industrial  processes,  business  depres- 
sions, and  financial  crises  have  added,  to  seasonal 
changes,  far-reaching  causes  of  inconstancy  and  ir- 
regularity in  employment.  At  the  same  time  these 
several  factors  react,  as  we  have  seen,  upon  wages 
and  prices.  All  that  has  lessened  stability  in  Indus- 
try has  helped  to  beget  new  occasions  of  alarm. 

And  so,  while  some  of  the  former  fears  remain, 
new  fears  have  come  into  being  which  circumscribe 
the  freedom  of  multitudes  of  men  and  women  on 
whose  unremitting  efforts  the  prosecution  of  Indus- 
try depends.  Fear  of  accident  and  sickness  and 
invalidity,  fear  of  over-strain,  and  of  unemploy- 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  117 

ment,  fear  of  sweating  and  of  dependence:  —  all 
these  are  vastly  more  real  to  men  and  women  en- 
gaged in  Industry  to-day  than  they  were  to  former 
generations.  To  these  fears  is  now  to  be  added  fear 
of  industrial  strife  on  a  scale  hitherto  unparalleled. 
Like  the  fear  of  war,  this  fear  may  seem  ephemeral 
until  it  is  realized;  but,  hke  war  itself,  industrial 
conflict  may  be  all  the  more  frightful  because  of 
hidden  causes,  long  neglected,  and  possibilities  al- 
together unforeseen. 

If  such  are  the  many  fears  of  to-day,  how  are 
they  ever  to  be  eliminated?  What  hope  is  there 
of  so  regulating  Industry,  and  of  so  influencing  in- 
ternational polity,  that  industrial  and  interna- 
tional development  may  serve,  not  scourge,  Hu- 
manity? 

It  may  well  be  that  we  shall  have  to  strike  deep ; 
that  we  shall,  in  fact,  have  to  reject  the  theories 
upon  which  we  have  been  proceeding.  Reahzing 
that  the  materiahstic  interpretation  of  the  universe 
has  brought  death  and  confusion,  we  have  ample 
scientific  grounds  for  beginning  anew  with  the  only 
possible  alternative,  and  attempting  a  solution  of 
our  international  and  industrial  problems  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  spiritual  interpretation  of  hfe. 

Nothing  has  occasioned  more  confusion  than  a 
wrong  application  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Survival  of 
the  Fittest.   Humane  men,  recognizing  its  obvious 


118  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

operation  in  the  physical  world,  and  deeming  it 
generally  applicable,  have  striven,  as  respects  in- 
dustrial and  political  development,  to  reconcile 
its  seeming  implications  with  teachings  which  ap- 
pear quite  contrary,  and  which  alone  appeal  to 
their  nobler  sensibiUties.  In  the  curious  juxtapo- 
sition of  ideas  thus  presented,  the  struggle  has 
seemed  to  be  between  Christianity  on  the  one  side 
and  Material  Force  on  the  other;  a  struggle,  in  the 
last  analysis,  between  the  Perfect  Man  and  the 
Perfect  Brute.  Into  such  strange  dilemmas  are  the 
minds  of  men  led  by  a  logic  that  overlooks  funda- 
mental differences! 

The  Law  of  the  Survival  of  the  Fittest  is  a  biologi- 
cal law,  concerned  solely  with  the  relationship  be- 
tween organisms  and  their  environments.  It  is  not  a 
rule  of  conduct,  nor  a  moral  law.  The  struggle  for 
existence  which  the  fit  alone  survive  is  a  struggle 
in  the  physical  world  between  physical  organisms 
and  their  physical  environments.  Organisms  that 
arc  suited  or  able  to  adapt  themselves  to  their  en- 
vironments survive,  are  called  "fit";  the  others 
perish.  But  the  struggle  is  one  between  organism 
and  environment,  not  between  organism  and  or- 
ganism of  the  same  type.  A  struggle  between  like 
organisms  of  which  the  fittest  alone  survive  would, 
if  indefinitely  prolonged,  wipe  out  the  entire  species. 
Organisms  suited  or  adapted  to  their  environments 
survive,  whether  their  number  be  few  or  legion- 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  119 

That  is  the  real  significance  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
"survival  of  the  fittest"  and  the  part  it  plays  in 
the  "struggle  for  existence."^ 

So  far  as  this  biological  law  is  applicable  to  hu- 
man beings,  the  organism  of  which  account  has  to 
be  taken  is  not  man  as  an  isolated  individual,  but 
mankind  as  a  whole.  Mr.  Norman  Angell  has  made 
this  apparent  by  pointing  out  that  man  as  an  indi- 
vidual, apart  from  association  with  his  fellows, 
would  die;  and  that  it  is  through  co-operation  with 
his  fellow  men  that  man  becomes  part  of  a  living 
organism,  an  organism  that  develops  in  vitaUty  as 
co-operation  between  its  members  becomes  effec- 
tive.2  In  this  view,  any  right  appUcation  of  the 
struggle  antecedent  to  the  survival  of  the  fit  will  be 
seen  to  he  in  man's  struggle  with  his  physical  environ- 
ment, not  in  any  confhct  between  individual  human 
beings  one  with  another.  Mankind  as  a  whole  is  the 
complete  social  organism,  and  the  planet  or  uni- 
verse its  environment.  To  this  environment,  man 
is  more  and  more  adapting  himself,  not,  however, 
through  conflict  with  his  fellow  man,  but  through 
combined  effort  on  the  part  of  collective  groups 
against  the  forces  of  nature  that  thwart  human 
progress.  Where  there  is  strife  and  confusion,  in- 
stead of  intelHgent  co-operation,  between  the  hu- 
man elements  of  which  society  is  composed,  man- 

*  Vide  Social  Progress  and  the  Darwinian   Theory,  by  George 
Nasmyth,  Ph.D.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  191 6. 
2  Prussianism  and  its  Destruction;  also  The  Great  Illusion. 


120  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

kind  as  an  organism  weakens  itself,  and  in  its  strug- 
gle against  environment  suffers  proportionately. 
The  fact  of  man  destroying  his  fellow  man  is  con- 
clusive evidence  of  itself  that  the  organism  exhibit- 
ing such  a  condition  has  not  attained  its  highest 
form.  An  organism  in  conflict  with  itself  is  not 
fitted  to  survive.  A  state  of  war,  whether  indus- 
trial or  international,  long  enough  continued  would 
cause  mankind  to  perish. 

A  world  at  peace  in  its  international  and  indus- 
trial relations,  each  part  co-operating  with  the 
others  and  effecting  a  co-ordination  of  effort  aimed 
at  destroying  every  obstacle  to  perfect  manhood, 
would  reveal  a  social  organism  rendering  itself 
*' fittest  to  survive."  It  would  not  be  a  world  de- 
void of  struggle  for  existence.  Indeed,  the  true 
meaning  of  existence  being  at  last  apparent,  the 
struggle  would  be  keener  than  ever;  but,  as  re- 
spects the  human  beings  that  comprise  Humanity, 
it  would  be,  not  one  against  another,  but  all  to- 
gether in  mortal  combat  against  the  common  en- 
emies of  mankind.  When  the  last  chapter  of  the 
story  of  man  upon  this  earth  is  written,  it  will  not 
be  the  eras  that  have  witnessed  the  fiercest  human 
struggles  between  nations  and  in  Industry  that  will 
disclose  human  society  as  best  fitted  to  survive, 
but  the  periods  of  history  in  which  effective  co- 
operation and  co-ordination  of  human  effort  have 
been  most  extensive;  and  in  which  the  law  of  hu- 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  121 

man  brotherhood,  and  not  the  law  of  the  jungle, 
has  governed  most  widely  in  the  relations  of  na- 
tions and  of  men.  Regarding  manldnd  as  one,  self- 
destruction,  not  self-preservation,  characterizes  the 
epochs  of  strife. 

The  error  that  has  given  rise  to  so  great  confu- 
sion of  thought  with  respect  to  the  doctrine  of  "  the 
survival  of  the  fittest"  in  relation  to  Industry  and 
NationaHty  is  graver  even  than  the  error  of  its  ap- 
phcation  to  the  constituent  elements  of  the  social 
organisms  instead  of  to  human  society  as  a  whole. 
It  lies,  as  already  pointed  out,  in  any  application 
of  a  purely  biological  law  to  phenomena  that  are 
other  than  biological.  Consider  the  phenomena! 
What  is  it  that  we  wish  to  survive?  Is  it  Matter, 
or  Spirit?  The  two  are  entirely  different.  If  it  be 
Matter,  then  some  brute  method  may  enable  us  to 
override  all  finer  sensibihties  for  the  sake  of  mate- 
rial gain;  and  humane  standards  which  help  to  pre- 
serve and  unfold  human  hfe  may  well  give  way  to 
standards  of  ruthless  competition  which  take  no 
account  of  hfe.  Even  then,  material  loss  will  come 
in  the  end.  If,  however,  it  be  not  Matter,  but  Life, 
that  we  wish  to  preserve,  then  the  standard  that 
is  inferior  must  make  way  for  the  superior  stand- 
ard, whether  the  struggle  be  between  competing 
methods  in  Industry,  or  rival  methods  in  matters 
of  international  concern.  Who  will  say  that  Prus- 
sian Militarism  is  fitter  to  survive  than  the  spirit 


122  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

of  the  free  peoples  who  have  opposed  it?  None,  save 
he  who  has  a  Prussian  heart. 


How  the  world  in  its  thinking  has  fallen  so 
largely  into  the  error  of  faihng  to  distinguish  be- 
tween what  are  material  and  what  are  spiritual  con- 
siderations, is  a  part  of  the  sequence  of  modern  in- 
dustrial evolution  as  already  outhned. 

The  epoch  of  discovery  and  the  epoch  of  inven- 
tion which  gave  birth  to  modern  Industry  were 
alike  related  to  a  physical  world.  So  vast,  so  al- 
most overwhelming,  was  the  new  knowledge  of  the 
globe,  and  of  its  illimitable  natural  resources;  so 
wonderful,  marvellous  in  fact,  the  new  knowledge 
of  the  physical  forces  of  nature  and  their  practical 
appUcation,  that  human  thought  became  engrossed 
in  a  world  of  matter,  created,  as  it  were,  anew.  An 
epoch  of  scientific  research  succeeded  the  epochs 
of  discovery  and  invention,  and  occupied  itself 
primarily,  and  almost  exclusively,  with  material 
phenomena.  The  physical  and  chemical  sciences, 
because  they  could  be  practically  and  profitably  ap- 
plied, gained  a  commercial  value  which  helped  to 
enhance  their  significance.  Inventive  genius  turned 
its  energies  to  the  discovery  of  mechanical  appli- 
ances and  industrial  processes.  With  the  expansion 
in  Industry,  came  fresh  developments  in  organiza- 
tion and  administration,  all  ahke  related  to  the  new 
material  development,  and  all  ahke  fostered  by  the 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  123 

vast  accumulations  of  wealth  which  it  made  possi- 
ble. In  the  teachings  of  the  universities,  ''Applied 
Science"  gained  a  foremost  place.  Even  Progress 
itself  came  to  be  measured  in  material  terms.  ^ 

Strange,  unexpected,  but,  withal,  natural  conse- 
quences have  followed  this  spread  of  materialism  so 
generally  accepted  in  theory  and  in  practice.  Un- 
der the  domination  of  thought  concerned  primarily 
with  a  world  of  matter,  ideals  of  personal  obliga- 
tion, earlier  conceptions  of  right  and  wrong  in 
human  relations,  while  never  wholly  abandoned, 
came,  in  the  practical  world,  to  receive  an  empha- 
sis wholly  secondary  to  that  of  the  new  knowledge 
which  spoke  of  "the  struggle  for  existence"  and 
"the  survival  of  the  fittest."  With  almost  child- 
like simphcity  these  new  conceptions  were  every- 
where apphed,  whether  the  application  related  to 
physical  phenomena,  to  the  study  of  which  they 
owed  their  origin,  or  to  human  conduct,  the  ethics 
of  which  it  is  impossible  to  define  in  physical  terms. 
Such  has  been  the  unconscious  drift  towards  the 
material  in  all  things,  and  away  from  a  regard  for 
the  spiritual,  which  a  century  ago  men  of  fewer 
possessions  but  of  profounder  natures  held.  The 
logical  result  has  followed ;  the  inevitable  crash  has 
come.   A  universe  that  is  not  a  material  universe 

^  The  reader  is  referred  to  a  little  volume  entitled  Whither?  pub- 
lished anonymously  by  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  igiS.  Referpnce  to  this 
source  and  use  of  its  expressive  phraseology  are  hereby  acknowl- 
edged. 


124  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

but  a  spiritual  universe  has  refused  to  be  ordered 
and  directed  by  material  forces  and  ideas.  To-day, 
a  world  crushed  beneath  the  weight  of  the  material 
ruin  it  has  heaped  upon  itself,  once  more  seeks  to 
fan  into  flame  the  spark  which  illumines  man  with 
a  true  sense  of  his  immortal  destiny. 

When  all  is  over,  and  the  ruin  is  complete,  man 
will  once  again  survey  his  world.  He  will  find  the 
universe  unchanged,  but  his  knowledge  of  it  will  be 
other  than  what  it  was.  The  epoch  of  scientific  re- 
search will  be  followed  by  an  epoch  of  reflection, 
and  of  search,  perhaps,  after  the  invisible  reaUties 
of  life.  In  the  thoughts  and  aims  of  men,  the  world 
of  matter,  let  us  pray,  will  find  a  place  subordinate 
to  the  world  of  spirit  which  discloses  its  existence 
not  by  means  of  chemical  reactions,  but  through  a 
following  after  the  Perfect  Life.  The  world  of  mat- 
ter, men  will  not  deny;  neither  will  they  any  longer 
deny  the  world  of  spiritual  reahty,  whatever  theo- 
ries they  may  entertain  of  its  origin  and  destiny. 
For  it  is  spirit,  not  matter,  that  gives  meaning  to 
*'  the  sum  of  things  entire" ;  and  the  import  is  slight 
or  momentous  as  spiritual  vision  is  dim  or  clear. 

The  universe  of  spirit,  not  the  material  universe, 
needs  now  to  be  explored.  Matter  knows  nothing 
of  aspiration  and  despair,  of  love  and  hate,  of  faith 
and  fear.  Y^et  these  are  the  chords  of  human  sensi- 
bihlies  upon  which  all  the  joy,  aU  the  passion,  and 
all  the  pathos  of  human  fife  are  expressed.   The 


CONFUSION  OR  PROGRESS  125 

materialistic  interpretation  of  life  has  failed  to  give 
us  progress  according  to  any  true  meaning  of  the 
word.  It  has  brought  only  death  and  desolation  in 
colossal  measure.  We  must  begin  anew  with  a 
spiritual  interpretation  of  hfe,  and  out  of  the  hu- 
man service  which  it  inspires  seek  to  reconstruct 
our  dismantled  world. 

The  problem  of  the  nature  of  the  universe  is 
necessarily  bound  up  with  the  parallel  problem  of 
human  personality.  Abundance  of  life  is  to  be  at- 
tained, not  through  any  brute  struggle  on  the  part 
of  men  or  nations  in  accord  with  some  biological 
law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  but  through  mutual 
service  in  accord  with  the  principles  of  a  higher 
law,  the  law  of  human  brotherhood  which  finds  its 
sublime  expression  in  Christian  sacrifice  and  love. 

Unhke  the  Law  of  the  Survival  of  the  Fittest,  the 
operation  of  this  higher  Law  of  Christian  Service 
imphes  social  effort  and  is  dependent  upon  an  ex- 
ercise of  choice.  In  the  struggle  of  the  physical  or- 
ganism with  its  environment,  it  is,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  isolation  of  the  organism,  and  the  final  impos- 
sibility of  the  exercise  of  any  option,  which  deter- 
mine its  fate.  Purely  material  things  are  incapable 
of  co-operation.  Were  spirit  the  same  as  matter, 
there  would  be  no  difference  between  the  hving  and 
the  dead.  It  is  the  fundamental  difference  between 
man  and  animal  or  plant  life,  expressed  in  co-opera- 


126  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

live  eflort  based  upon  voluntary  choice,  that  renders 
the  biological  analogy  inapphcable  to  the  condi- 
tion of  human  progress.  This  fundamental  differ- 
ence also  explains  how  the  tendency  operating  as  a 
sort  of  Gresham's  Law  with  respect  to  standards 
in  Industry  is  capable  of  being  overcome.  Through 
co-operative  effort  based  on  choice,  higher  stand- 
ards may  be  made  to  prevail  over  inferior  ones. 
The  choice,  however,  must  be  exercised  in  relation 
to  conditions  as  they  affect  life,  not  as  they  affect 
forms  of  organization  and  material  substances. 

Industry  may  be  a  source  of  strength  and  vitality 
to  the  individuals  it  employs ;  or  it  may  be  a  whited 
sepulchre,  outwardly  beautiful,  fulfilling  a  seem- 
ingly exalted  mission,  but  within,  a  thing  of  rot- 
tenness and  filled  with  the  dying  and  the  dead. 
The  same  is  equally  true  of  the  State.  In  both 
cases  it  is  a  matter  of  standards  based  upon  recog- 
nition of  the  fundamental  distinction  between  ma- 
terial and  human  values.  The  Law  of  Competing 
Standards  is  a  law  applicable  to  material  values,  in 
which  human  considerations  are  ignored.  The  Law 
of  Christian  Service,  everywhere  expressed  in  mutual 
aid,  is  a  moral  law.  Its  apphcation  is  to  human 
life,  which  regards  material  considerations  of  value 
only  as  they  minister  to  human  need. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY 

Industry  is  the  process  by  which  the  resources 
of  Nature  are  transformed  through  human  elTort 
into  services  and  commodities  available  for  use. 
Agriculture,  fishing,  lumbering,  mining,  manufac- 
turing, transportation  and  communication,  trans- 
mission of  light,  heat,  water  and  power,  work  of 
construction  of  various  kinds,  all  that  pertains  to 
trade  and  commerce,  and  to  skilled  and  unskilled 
labor,  are  component  elements  of  this  vast  process, 
of  which  production  is  the  basis,  and  exchange  and 
distribution  derivative  and  contributing  factors.^ 

The  effort  necessary  to  effect  the  transformation 
of  natural  resources  into  services  and  commodities 
is  the  muscular  and  mental  effort  of  human  beings, 
aided  by  the  labor  of  brutes  and  by  natural  forces 
which  human  beings  control  and  direct,  and  by 

^  While  the  principles  enumerated  in  this  treatise  are  applicable 
to  Industry  in  any  and  all  of  its  branches,  it  is  to  branches  of  Industry 
in  which  large-scale  organization  has  most  developed  that  reference 
is  primarily  made.  In  many  parts,  agriculture,  lumbering,  and  fishing 
are  still  organized  on  hnes  resembling  those  of  the  old  domestic  sys- 
tem. If  the  word  Industry,  as  used,  appears  to  refer  primarily  to  such 
branches  as  manufacturing,  mining,  and  transportation,  it  is  not 
because  the  vast  significance  of  other  branches  of  Industry  has  been 
overlooked,  but  simply  that  attention  may  be  given  more  particu- 
larly to  problems  which  owe  their  origin  in  large  measure  to  modem 
developments.  ^ 


128  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

tools,  appliances,  and  machines,  themselves  the 
result  of  human  effort  in  the  past.  With  the  cease- 
less expansion  of  Industry,  this  interweaving  of 
effort  has  developed  on  a  world  scale,  and  is  shared 
in  by  human  beings  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 
Industry  is  thus  expressive  of  activities  common  to 
Humanity,  and  its  expansion  is  Humanity's  com- 
mon task.  So  inexhaustible  are  natural  forces  and 
other  resources  of  Nature  that  the  only  hmit  to 
the  possible  development  of  Industry  is  the  extent 
and  ingenuity  of  human  effort.  The  extent  of  hu- 
man effort  is  a  matter  of  co-operation  between  the 
parties  to  Industry;  ingenuity,  a  matter  of  intelh- 
gent  co-ordination  of  functions. 

Whilst  Industry,  as  a  whole,  may  be  described 
as  one  vast  process,  it  is  made  up,  in  reality,  of 
an  infinite  series  of  processes  constantly  increasing 
in  number  and  variety.  These  processes  are  in- 
cidental to  the  various  stages  of  transformation 
through  which  the  resources  of  Nature  necessarily 
pass  before  being  changed  into  services  and  com- 
modities available  for  use. 

At  every  stage  in  each  of  the  several  processes, 
Labor  is  required  to  supply  necessary  effort.  Be- 
cause of  the  geographical  distribution  of  Industry, 
the  division  of  employment  within  given  areas,  the 
still  further  division  of  labor  within  particular  em- 
ployments, and  the  minute  subdivisions  consequent 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  129  ^ 

upon  the  use  of  tools  and  machines,  there  is  spe- 
ciahzation  of  effort  all  along  the  Une.  Through 
this  extensive  and  intensive  specialization,  the 
work  of  multitudes  of  individuals  is  necessarily  cir- 
cumscribed and  of  different  degrees  of  effectiveness. 
Mr.  L.  G.  McPherson,  in  a  volume  entitled  "How 
the  World  Makes  Its  Living,"  admirably  describes 
the  essential  differences  in  this  detailed  specializa- 
tion. He  says:  "At  one  extreme  are  those  whose 
effort  is  hardly  more  than  muscular,  and  is  effective 
only  when  exercised  under  direction  of  others  as  to 
time,  place,  manner,  and  extent  of  application.  At 
the  other  extreme  are  those  who  by  effort  of  the 
brain  take  account  of  complicated  factors  and  cir- 
cumstances in  guiding  and  directing  the  industrial 
processes.  Between  the  two  extremes  are  work- 
ers of  varying  degrees  of  effectiveness,  into  whose 
physical  and  mental  make-up  different  characteris- 
tics enter  in  a  myriad  of  combinations."  1  Knowledge 
and  skill  in  his  particular  work  is  the  first  requisite 
of  a  worker;  an  appreciation  of  the  relation  of  his 
work  to  the  process  of  which  it  is  a  part  is  the 
next  requisite;  and  this,  together  with  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  aim  which  he  and  the  other  parties  to 
Industry  have  in  common,  is  essential  to  maximum 
efficiency. 

To  carry  on  the  several  processes  and  effect  the 

^  Vide  previous  reference  to  this  source. 


130  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

requisite  transformations,  capital,  or,  in  other  words, 
the  results  of  previous  efTort,  must  be  contin- 
uously available.  Materials  to  be  worked  upon 
are  required,  such  as  raw  material,  or  materials 
partially  transformed;  articles  to  work  with,  such  as 
tools,  appHances,  and  machines;  and  commodities 
in  the  nature  of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter  to  sus- 
tain the  workers.  To  render  these  various  sub- 
stances available  in  forms,  quantities,  and  places 
required,  money  is  necessary  for  their  purchase. 

Money  and  credit  are  sometimes  spoken  of  as 
capital.  They  are  such,  not  of  themselves,  however, 
but  in  virtue  of  what  their  possession  commands; 
they  indicate  power  of  control  because  exchange- 
able for  desired  commodities  or  services.  So  far  as 
the  actual  processes  of  production  go,  money  is  a 
matter  of  figures  in  books,  and  insignia  and  figures 
on  metal  and  paper.  The  only  real  wealth  is  in  the 
nature  of  commodities  and  services  which  money 
controls.  All  substances  used  in  production  for  the 
purpose  of  further  production  are  in  the  nature  of 
surplus  wealth  and  are  definable  as  capital.^  In 
business,  in  speaking  of  capital,  little  or  no  dis- 
tinction is  drawn  between  wealth  in  the  form  of 
money  and  surplus  wealth  in  the  form  of  other 

*  Capital  throughout  this  treatise  is  accorded  its  business  signi- 
ficance, and  includes  material  possessions  of  any  and  every  kind 
which  have  exchangeable  value  or  are  in  the  nature  of  surplus 
wealth  available  for  investment  in  Industry.  It  includes  land  where 
immediately  or  incidentally  related  to  industrial  processes. 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  131 

substances  utilized  to  further  production.  This  free- 
dom of  expression  is  quite  permissible  so  long  as 
it  is  accompanied  by  an  understanding  of  the  es- 
sential difference  of  function  between  money  and 
other  forms  of  capital  wherever  the  difference  is 
material. 

Not  only  are  labor  and  capital  necessary  to  In- 
dustry, but  at  every  stage,  in  fact  at  every  point 
throughout  the  entire  process,  there  is  need  also  of 
co-ordination  of  effort,  which  imphes  direction, 
either  self-direction  on  the  part  of  the  worker  and 
owner  of  capital,  or  direction  on  the  part  of  others. 
Direction  of  effort  begins  with  the  apphcation  of 
intelligence  of  the  lowest  order,  in  simply  applying 
force  to  matter  through  muscular  effort,  and  ascends 
through  an  infinite  number  of  gradations  to  intelli- 
gence of  the  very  highest  order,  such  as  is  necessary 
in  originating  and  devising  means  and  methods  of 
co-ordinating  and  of  increasing  the  value  of  human 
effort.  Whatever  conserves  human  effort  and  ma- 
terials, makes  possible  increased  production.  The 
effective  utiUzation  of  the  forces  of  nature  under 
human  direction,  and  the  successful  combining  of 
the  activities  of  vast  numbers  of  individuals,  ac- 
count for  the  enormous  production  of  the  world 
to-day.  Effort  of  itself  is  of  Uttle  value;  it  is  effort 
intelhgently  directed  that  counts. 

Where  the  capacity  of  directing  and  co-ordinating 


132  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

effort  does  not  lie  within  the  brain  of  the  worker, 
it  must  be  suppUed  by  direction  of  another.  As 
operations  become  more  difficult  and  complex,  as 
the  effort  of  the  individual  requires  to  be  directed 
toward  many  ends,  and  the  effort  of  several  indi- 
viduals requires  to  be  combined  toward  one  or  sev- 
eral ends,  a  still  higher  order  of  skill  and  of  directing 
and  organizing  intelligence  is  required.  A  supreme 
intelhgence  would  be  required  to  direct  and  co- 
ordinate "the  efforts  of  all  peoples  of  all  stages 
of  advancement,  in  all  parts  of  the  world."  Such 
would  be  the  task  of  co-ordination  were  Industry 
throughout  the  world  to  be  conducted  on  a  basis  of 
completest  efficiency. 

Directing  intelligence  is  a  form  of  labor.  It  is 
mental  labor  of  a  kind  necessary  to  the  co-ordination 
of  effort,  as  distinguished  from  labor  that  is  mostly 
muscular,  which  consists  in  the  appUcation  of 
force  to  material  substances.  Whilst  some  element 
of  directing  intelhgence  is  essential  to  the  crudest 
kinds  of  muscular  effort,  and  some  element  of  mus- 
cular effort  is  essential  to  directing  intelligence  of 
the  highest  order,  the  service  rendered  by  direct- 
ing intelligence,  which  is  concerned  mainly  with 
the  co-ordination  of  effort  and  is  largely  divorced 
from  muscular  effort,  is  so  different  in  kind  and  de- 
gree from  the  service  of  labor  that  is  mainly  muscu- 
lar that  the  two  may  be  regarded  as  separate  and 
distinct  factors  in  production.    In  its  distinctive 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  133 

character,  directing  intelligence  is  referred  to  as 
Management.  In  Industry,  Management  is  con- 
cerned with  the  disposition  of  the  capital  provided, 
the  erection  and  employment  of  machinery  and 
plant,  the  employment  and  direction  of  the  work- 
ing forces,  the  placing  and  acceptance  of  contracts, 
the  purchase  of  the  raw  material,  and  the  sale  of 
the  finished  product.  The  performance  of  these 
functions  requires  a  wide  knowledge  of  business,  of 
markets,  of  methods  of  distribution,  of  financial 
conditions,  and  of  human  nature. 

It  is  customary  for  economists  to  end  the  analy- 
sis of  the  factors  in  production  at  this  point,  and 
to  limit  the  parties  to  Industry  to  Labor,  Capi- 
tal, and  Management,  distinguishing,  however,  be- 
tween land  and  capital,  and  admitting  the  own- 
ers of  land  as  an  additional  separate  and  distinct 
party.  In  this  treatise,  customary  business  usage 
has  been  sanctioned,  and  land  and  capital  have 
been  combined  under  the  heading  of  capital  as 
representing  forms  of  wealth  used  for  the  produc- 
tion of  further  wealth,  a  classification  which,  while 
theoretically  insufficient,  is  nevertheless  accurate 
enough  to  serve  most  practical  purposes  in  a  discus- 
sion on  the  problems  of  Industry.  So  long  as  it  is 
remembered  that  what  is  said  of  the  ownersliip  of 
capital  in  the  strict  sense  of  that  word  applies 
equally  to  the  ownership  of  land,  and  that  when 


134  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

interest  as  a  reward  for  the  use  of  capital  is  referred 
to,  thought  must  also  be  had  of  rent  as  the  reward 
for  the  use  of  land,  the  single  classification  may- 
help  to  avoid  needless  repetition  of  thought  and 
expression.  1 

There  is  a  party  to  Industry,  however,  which 
economists  are  wont  to  overlook,  a  party  which 
furnishes  opportunity  to  all  the  others,  and  with- 
out whose  implied  sanction  and  co-operation  the 
other  parties  could  effect  nothing.  That  party  is 
the  Community,^  and  of  the  Community  account 
must  also  be  taken  if  industrial  relations  are  to  be 
viewed  in  their  entirety.  If  Labor,  Capital,  and 
Management  are  to  be  described  as  co-operating 
in  production,  and  therefore  as  partners  in  Indus- 
try, and  if  the  grounds  of  partnership  are  those  of 
necessary  co-operation  in  all  industrial  processes, 

1  Rent  as  a  reward  for  the  use  of  land  is  strictly  in  the  nature  of 
interest  and  differs  from  "rent"  in  the  economic  sense  which  is  in  the 
nature  of  increment  accruing  from  position,  etc. 

2  While  the  Community  comprises  the  three  parties  to  Industry 
known  as  Labor,  Capital,  and  Management,  it  is  not  the  sum  of  the 
three.  It  is  not  only  something  more;  it  is  something  different.  It  is, 
in  reality,  a  separate  and  distinct  entity.  There  is  good  reason,  on 
account  of  the  services  the  Community  renders  Industry,  for  regard- 
ing it  as  a  distinct  party  and  deserving  of  separate  consideration. 

The  use  of  the  word  "Community"  seems  preferable  to  the  use  of 
the  word  "  Public,"  though  the  two  are  often  interchangeable.  There 
is  greater  defmiteness  about  the  word  "Community."  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  sufficiently  flexible  to  lend  itself  to  contraction  and  expan- 
sion in  meaning  where  it  is  necessary  to  emphasize  the  area  within 
which  a  people  share  a  common  interest  with  respect  to  the  subject 
under  consideration. 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  135 

then  the  Community  must  also  be  admitted  to  the 
partnership.  Perhaps  the  Community  might,  with 
appropriateness,  be  designated  "the  silent  part- 
ner," since  most  of  its  contributions,  though  sub- 
stantial, pass  unheralded.  Let  the  Community 
once  fail  in  doing  what  is  expected  of  it,  and  Labor, 
Capital,  and  Management  also  necessarily  fail  in 
the  due  performance  of  their  respective  services. 
Industry  becomes  hke  some  vast  mechanism  out  of 
gear.  The  processes  of  Industry  jangle;  sooner  or 
later  they  become  silenced  altogether. 

It  is  the  Community  which  provides  the  natural 
resources  and  powers  that  underhe  all  production. 
Individuals  may  acquire  title  by  one  means  or 
another,  but  it  is  from  the  Community,  and  with 
the  consent  of  the  Community,  that  titles  are  held. 
It  is  the  Community,  organized  in  various  ways, 
which  maintains  government  and  foreign  relations, 
secures  law  and  order,  fosters  the  arts  and  in- 
ventions, aids  education,  breeds  opinion,  and  pro- 
motes, through  concession  or  otherwise,  the  agen- 
cies of  transportation,  communication,  credit,  bank- 
ing, and  the  hke,  without  which  any  production, 
save  the  most  primitive,  would  be  impossible.  It 
is  the  Community  which  creates  the  demand  for 
commodities  and  services,  through  which  Labor  is 
provided  with  remunerative  employment,  and  Capi- 
tal with  a  return  upon  its  investment.  Apart  from 
the  Community,  inventive  genius,  organizing  ca- 


136  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

pacity,  managerial  or  other  ability  would  be  of  lit- 
tle value.  Turn  where  one  may,  it  is  the  Commu- 
nity that  makes  possible  all  the  activities  of  Indus- 
try, and  helps  to  determine  their  value  and  scope. 

The  parties  to  Industry,  then,  are  four  in  num- 
ber: Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Com- 
munity. Five  they  would  be,  were  Land  to  be 
distinguished  from  Capital,  and  separately  desig- 
nated. By  the  joint  co-operation  of  all  four.  In- 
dustry is  carried  on  and  wealth  produced.  Out  of 
the  wealth  produced  comes  the  reward  of  each  of 
the  several  contributing  factors.  "Wages"  is  the 
term  apphed  to  the  reward  Labor  receives  for 
its  contribution  to  production;  "interest"  denotes 
the  reward  Capital  receives;  "rent,"  the  reward 
paid  its  owners  for  the  services  rendered  by  Land ; 
and  "salary,"  the  reward  of  Management.  The  re- 
ward to  the  Community,  though  not  obtainable  in 
the  same  manner,  is  not  unUke  the  reward  of  the 
other  parties.  What  Labor,  Capital,  and  Manage- 
ment receive  as  reward  is  in  reality  so  much  pur- 
chasing power  wherewith  to  obtain  commodities 
and  services.  The  Community  receives  its  reward 
in  increase  of  quantity  or  improvement  of  quality 
of  services  and  commodities  available  in  exchange 
for  purchasing  power.  This  gain,  it  will  be  seen, 
is  the  equivalent  of  additional  purchasing  power. 
The  Community  is  also  entitled  to  reward  in  the 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  137 

shape  of  an  orderly  organization  in  the  develop- 
ment and  conduct  of  Industry.  This  is  but  return 
in  kind  for  the  service  the  Community  renders 
the  other  parties  to  Industry  in  preserving  law 
and  order  and  promoting  orderly  organization  and 
peaceful  behavior  throughout  the  State. 

Whilst  doubt  and  debate  may  arise  as  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  relative  services  of  the  several  parties 
to  production,  and  the  consequent  appropriate  re- 
ward of  each,  there  can  be  no  question  concern- 
ing the  essential  nature  of  the  services  themselves, 
and  their  absolute  interdependence.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  concerning  the  aim  which,  as  parties  to 
production,  they  have  in  common.  Labor,  Capi- 
tal, Management,  and  the  Community  are  as  de- 
pendent one  upon  the  other  for  the  results  which 
their  combined  efforts  produce,  and  from  which  all 
receive  the  rewards  of  their  services,  as  a  chain  is 
dependent  for  its  strength  upon  each  of  its  individ- 
ual links.  The  quantity  and  quality  of  the  output 
from  which  the  parties  to  Industry  are  rewarded  are 
as  entirely  matters  of  the  successful  co-operation 
and  co-ordination  of  their  effort  as  the  total  of  a  sum 
in  arithmetic  is  the  result  of  the  figures  added  to- 
gether. 

Wages,  interest,  rent,  salaries,  are  paid  out  of 
total  production,  which  is  never  constant,  but  is  an 
ever-increasing  or  diminishing  flow.  The  commodi- 


138  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ties  and  services  for  which  wages,  interest,  rent, 
and  salaries,  in  the  form  of  purchasing  power,  are 
exchangeable  represent  the  sum  total  of  produc- 
tion. On  production  depends  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  output,  and  on  output  depends  the 
amount  of  wealth  available  for  distribution.  The 
total  community  production  determines  the  total 
community  income.  It  can  be  neither  more  nor 
less.  However  opposed  the  interests  of  the  par- 
ties may  seem  to  be  as  respects  the  distribution  of 
income  derivable  from  total  production,  as  respects 
production  itself  they  are  concurrent,  since  it  is  to 
the  advantage  of  each  that  the  total  available  for 
distribution  should  be  as  large  as  possible.^ 

In  conventional  treatises  on  political  economy, 
the  factors  essential  to  Industr>%  and  their  re- 
spective functions  would  be  enlarged  upon  under 
the  main  divisions  of  production,  distribution,  and 
exchange.  It  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  work  to 
attempt  any  such  review  of  economic  theory.  This 
study  is  necessarily  confined  to  a  consideration  of 
the  single  problem  of  the  proper  adjustment  of  the 
immediate  relations  which  arise  between  persons 
engaged  in  Industry,  and  to  the  enunciation  of  a 
few  fundamental  principles,  regard  for  which  is 
in  the  interest  of  the  parties  to  Industry,  and  the 

^  Vide  Memorandum  on  the  Industrial  Situation  After  the  War, 
par.  i44-  The  Garton  Foundation,  1916. 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  139 

well-being  of  society.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  all 
that  contributes  to  efficient  production,  or  indeed 
to  efficiency  of  any  and  every  kind,  mal<:es  possible 
a  more  perfect  adjustment  of  industrial  relations, 
it  may  be  well  to  point  out  that  the  field  for  con- 
structive efYort  in  this  connection  is  well-nigh  un- 
limited. 

Wise  governmental  policy  in  the  encouragement 
and  direction  of  Industry,  and  in  the  cultivation 
of  domestic  and  foreign  markets,  improved  meth- 
ods of  distribution,  secure  and  adequate  banking, 
credit,  and  investment  facilities,  prudent  regulation 
of  taxation  and  land  values,  good  patent  laws, 
scientific  industrial  research,  industrial  training 
and  technical  education,  —  these  and  many  an- 
other means  of  increasing  the  supply  and  the  re- 
ward, as  well  as  the  opportunity  of  Labor,  Capital, 
and  Management,  and  the  effective  demand  of 
the  Community,  are,  one  and  all,  incentives  to  in- 
creased production,  and  therefore  far-reaching  in 
their  possible  effects  upon  the  successful  adjust- 
ment of  industrial  relations. 

A  country's  population,  its  area,  location,  re- 
sources, and  climate  help  to  determine  the  nature 
and  distribution  of  its  industries,  which  are  also 
affected  by  the  position  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
and  the  stage  of  development  of  industrial  proc- 
esses and  powers.  Policies  of  government  with 
respect  to  industry,  to  trade  and  commerce,  to 


140  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

transportation  and  communication,  to  immigra- 
tion, education,  and  finance,  are  scarcely  less  im- 
portant as  factors  in  determining  industrial  condi- 
tions than  the  ground  work  which  Nature  herself 
provides.  Most  important  is  the  relative  propor- 
tion of  rural  and  urban  populations.  It  bears  upon 
the  social  problems  to  which  overcrowding  and 
congested  areas  give  rise,  and  upon  the  cost  of 
living  which  is  mainly  a  matter  of  food,  fuel,  cloth- 
ing, rents,  and  taxation.  Problems  of  ilhteracy, 
intemperance,  pauperism,  unemployment,  and  the 
like  affect  and  are  affected  by  industrial  conditions. 
All  such  problems  are  partly  ethical,  and  partly 
economic.  As  contributing  factors  to  industrial 
unrest,  they  are  partly  pohtical  as  well.  At  no 
point  are  industrial  conditions  or  industrial  rela- 
tions separable  from  the  influence  of  Government, 
Education,  and  Opinion,  or  all  that  immediately 
or  remotely  contributes  to  the  direction  of  these 
agencies  in  accordance  with  what  is  wise,  honest, 
and  just.  Nor  are  industrial  conditions  and  rela- 
tions between  the  parties  to  Industry  separable  at 
any  point  from  the  play  of  Discovery  and  Invention 
which  operates  constantly  and  begets  continuous 
change. 

Fundamental  beyond  all  other  considerations  is 
the  attitude  of  the  parties  to  Industry  toward  one 
another.  If  the  relationship  be  one  of  antagonism  or 
hostihty,  of  a  regard  for  opposed  as  contrasted  with 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  141 

common  interests,  it  matters  little  what  the  poUcies 
or  methods  governing  production  may  be,  the 
foundations  of  economic  and  social  development 
will  be  insecure.  The  basic  problem  of  relations  be- 
tween the  parties  to  Industry  is  one  of  attitude. 
On  a  satisfactory  solution,  through  the  elimination 
of  Fear  and  the  estabhshment  of  Faith,  depends 
the  successful  working  out  of  all  the  rest. 

A  striking  illustration  of  the  degree  to  which  all 
else  is  dependent  upon  the  attitude  of  the  parties  to 
Industry  toward  each  other,  was  foreshadowed  in 
a  statement  issued  to  the  parties  to  an  industrial 
controversy  in  England,  on  February  1,  1918,  by 
the  Right  Hon.  Arthur  Henderson,  the  Leader  of 
the  Labor  Party  in  British  politics  and  former 
member  of  the  War  Cabinet.  Referring  to  a  threat- 
ened strike  of  members  of  the  Amalgamated  Soci- 
ety of  Engineers,  and  the  hesitancy  of  the  British 
Government  in  conceding  a  separate  conference, 
Mr.  Henderson  said,  "The  temper  of  the  workmen 
is  most  dangerous;  the  unyielding  attitude  of  the 
Government  is  bringing  the  country  to  the  verge  of 
industrial  revolution,  and  unless  a  more  just  and 
reasonable  attitude  is  adopted,  I  am  seriously  ap- 
prehensive that  an  irreparable  break  between  an 
important  section  of  industrial  labor  and  the  Gov- 
ernment will  result."  The  reference  is  the  more 
significant  in  that  the  parties  mentioned  are  not 
Labor  and  Capital,  as  is  generally  the  case,  but 


142  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Labor  and  the  Government ;  in  other  words,  Labor 
and  the  Community,  assuming,  that  is,  that  Gov- 
ernment as  constituted  in  these  abnormal  times 
may  be  regarded  as  representative  of  the  people  as 
a  whole. 

It  must  always  be  remembered  that,  while  La- 
bor, Capital,  Management,  and  the  Community 
are  abstract  terms,  in  the  concrete  each  is  con- 
cerned with  individual  human  beings,  possessing, 
controlling,  or  constituting  a  part  of  one  or  more 
of  the  essential  factors  of  production.  Since  all  in- 
dustrial relations  are  necessarily  interwoven  with 
community  activities,  it  follows  that  the  personal 
contacts  of  which  Industry  is  required  to  take  ac- 
count are  well-nigh  innumerable.  Obviously  the 
attitude  of  the  parties  toward  each  other  is  every- 
thing when  it  comes  to  a  matter  of  the  adjustment 
of  relations  between  them.  Co-ordination  of  func- 
tion as  regards  the  several  factors  is  a  small  prob- 
lem compared  with  the  interminable  adjustments 
in  the  relations  of  individuals  on  the  satisfactori- 
ness  of  which  all  co-operation  necessarily  depends. 
To  effect  co-operation  and  co-ordination  of  effort 
between  the  parties  to  Industry,  httle  more  than 
ordinary  human  intelligence  is  required,  where  there 
is  behef  in  a  common  aim  and  in  common  justice. 
Without  some  such  underlying  confidence,  the 
highest  intelligence  may  be  set  at  naught. 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  143 

Assuming  the  existence  of  a  right  attitude  to- 
ward each  other,  on  the  part  of  the  several  par- 
ties to  Industry,  the  rest  is  so  simple  as  to  be  almost 
a  matter  of  mathematical  calculation.  Were  the 
available  Labor  and  the  available  Capital  to  be 
graphically  portrayed  in  circles  so  described  as 
to  be  of  equal  area,  the  representation  would  be 
inadequate  to  afford  a  conception  of  the  possible 
extent  of  Industry  and  consequent  total  produc- 
tion. That  would  depend  upon  the  relation  of 
these  two  circles  to  each  other,  and  upon  their 
joint  relation  to  circles  representative  of  the  other 
two  parties,  Management  and  the  Community. 
If,  likewise,  all  the  Intelligence  available  for  the 
direction  and  co-ordination  of  effort  could  be  por- 
trayed in  a  circle  so  described  as  to  equal  in  area 
the  circles  representative  of  the  available  Labor 
and  the  available  Capital,  then  if  the  three  circles 
could  be  so  related  that  at  all  points  they  bore 
an  equal  relation  to  a  circle  representative  of  the 
Community,  there  would  be  a  graphic  presenta- 
tion suggestive  of  the  possible  extent  of  production 
of  Industry,  and  of  its  perfect  co-ordination  as 
well.i 

What,  theoretically,  the  possible  extent  of  out- 
put and  the  effective  co-ordination  of  effort  in  In- 
dustry at  any  given  moment  may  be  depends  upon 

*  The  reader  is  here  referred  to  the  Appendix,  Chart  No.  I,  illus- 
trative of  the  nature  of  industrial  relations. 


144  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  position  of  each  of  four  circles  representative  of 
the  parties  to  Industry  in  its  relation  to  the  other 
three.  If  any  of  the  four  circles  be  removed  in  area 
from  the  other  three,  that  is  to  say,  if,  in  the 
conduct  of  Industry,  available  Labor  or  available 
Capital,  or  Intelligence  available  for  directing  and 
co-ordinating  effort,  or  the  Community's  contribu- 
tion, diminishes  relatively  to  any  one  or  two  or 
three  of  the  others,  co-ordination  of  effort  within 
Industry  and  possible  production  will  be  adversely 
affected  thereby.  Some  Labor,  some  Capital,  some 
Directing  Intelligence,  or  some  portion  of  the 
Community's  contribution  will  be  rendered  rela- 
tively superfluous.  Whether  the  whole  be  viewed, 
or  only  a  part,  the  output  of  Industry  depends 
upon  the  extent  to  which  available  effort  is  success- 
fully directed  and  co-ordinated  with  the  results  of 
previous  effort,  and  upon  their  joint-relationship 
to  the  Community.  In  other  words,  the  output  of 
Industry  is  a  matter,  first  of  all,  of  the  available 
Labor  and  the  available  Capital,  and  their  adjust- 
ment by  available  Management  in  relation  to  the 
contribution  and  needs  of  the  Community. 

Where  there  is  no  Community,  there  can  be  no 
production.  Where  Labor,  Capital,  or  Manage- 
ment is  unavailable,  to  that  extent  production  will 
be  limited.  Available  Labor  and  available  Capi- 
tal are  not  sufTicicnt  unto  themselves.  Neither  are 
available  Labor  and  available  Management,  nor 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  145 

available  Capital  and  available  Management.  All 
are  essential.  All  must  co-operate;  the  functions 
of  all  must  be  properly  co-ordinated.  Otherwise 
they  become  negative  or  opposing  factors.  In  a 
word,  in  so  far  as  relations  between  Labor,  Capital, 
Management,  and  the  Community  are  not  prop- 
erly adjusted,  production  is  adversely  affected;  and 
in  so  far  as  they  are  ill-adjusted  they  make  for  con- 
fusion, not  for  progress.  1 

It  is  only  necessary  to  contemplate  the  number, 
extent,  and  variety  of  industrial  processes  as  car- 
ried on  in  this  age  of  world-wide  competition  to 
realize  how  essential  is  continuous  co-operation 
between  the  parties  to  Industry,  and  of  what  mag- 
nitude is  the  work  of  intelligent  and  effective  co- 
ordination. At  the  one  extreme  lie  the  resources  of 
nature  scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  globe, 
much  as  they  have  been  through  the  silent  cen- 
turies of  the  past.  At  the  other  extreme  are  the 
innumerable  commodities  into  which  natural  re- 
sources have  been  transformed.  It  is  the  aim  of 
Industry  so  to  transform  the  resources  of  Nature 
that  they  may  be  made  adequately  to  satisfy  hu- 
man need  and  desire.  At  the  beginning  of  the  proc- 
ess there  is  little  if  any  relation  between  natural  re- 
sources and  the  needs  and  desires  they  ultimately 

1  The  reader  is  here  referred  to  the  Appendix,  Charts  Nos.  II,  III, 
and  IV,  illustrative  of  the  several  parties  to  production,  progress  in 
Industry,  and  contributing  factors  and  forces  in  industrial  relations. 


146  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

serve.  At  the  end,  they  are  related  to  human  need 
and  desire,  in  form,  in  quantity,  in  quaUty,  in  time, 
and  in  place.  Between  the  two  extremes  there  is 
endless  interweaving  of  human  effort  expressive  of 
activities  of  the  most  varied  kind. 

Out  of  the  several  classes  of  activities  have  de- 
veloped industrial  establishments  of  all  sizes  and 
descriptions,  including  plants  and  their  equip- 
ments, warehouses,  retail  stores,  and  the  many 
agencies  and  vast  systems  of  transportation  and 
communication.  There  have  also  been  evolved  nu- 
merous agencies  of  government  and  all  those  insti- 
tutions and  practices  which  have  to  do  with  money 
and  the  mechanism  of  exchange,  the  systems  of 
banking  and  credits,  the  stock  exchange,  broker- 
age, insurance,  speculation;  in  a  word,  all  that  per- 
tains to  finance  on  a  national  and  international 
scale.  No  one  of  these  myriad  agencies  and  insti- 
tutions distributed  and  operating  over  all  quar- 
ters of  the  globe  is  self-sufficing.  In  greater  or  less 
degree,  each  is  dependent  for  its  continued  exist- 
ence upon  co-operation  with  many  of  the  others. 

Wherever,  within  the  myriad  processes  of  this 
vast  and  complex  maze  of  world-wide,  inter-related 
human  effort,  there  is  active  co-operation  and  in- 
telligent co-ordination,  there  progress  in  Industry 
is  being  made.  Wherever  co-operation  and  co-ordi- 
nation of  effort  fail,  there  production  is  inhibited  or 
confusion  results. 


THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY  147 

Community  activities  of  all  kinds  are  dependent 
upon  the  maintenance  of  Industry,  just  as  the 
maintenance  of  Industry  is  dependent  on  Com- 
munity activities.  Consequently  co-operation  and 
co-ordination  of  effort,  between  the  activities  con- 
cerned primarily  with  Industry  and  the  activities 
of  the  Community  apart  from  Industry,  are  second 
in  importance  only  to  co-operation  and  co-ordina- 
tion of  effort  within  Industry  itself.  Industry  sus- 
tains life,  and  no  form  of  Community  activity  is 
possible  for  long  without  it.  If  this  be  compre- 
hended in  its  full  significance,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  common  aim  of  the  parties  to  Industry  is 
vaster  than  merely  that  of  joint-production  in  or- 
der that  the  total  wealth  available  for  distribution 
may  be  as  large  as  possible;  and  that  Industry  is 
not  to  be  regarded  as  a  mere  revenue-producing 
process  pursued  for  purposes  of  private  gain.  In- 
dustry will  be  recognized  as  the  most  necessary  of 
all  the  institutions  human  ingenuity  has  devised. 
Participation  in  the  processes  of  Industry  will  be 
seen  to  be  in  the  nature  of  social  service;  and  social 
service  of  the  very  highest  order,  since  it  is  of  a 
kind  on  which  all  other  service  whatsoever  depends. 

Clearly,  in  an  objective  so  stupendous,  no  form 
of  organization  is  sufficient  of  itself  to  guarantee 
the  co-operation  and  co-ordination  of  effort  which 
will  serve  to  unite  the  parties  to  Industry  in  a  per- 
fect harmony  and  in  the  furtherance  of  their  com- 


148  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

mon  aim.  A  solution  of  the  problems  of  Industry  is 
not  to  be  looked  for  in  forms;  something  more  vital 
than  forms  is  needed.  A  new  spirit  alone  will  suf- 
fice. This  spirit  must  substitute  Faith  for  Fear.  It 
must  breathe  mutual  confidence  and  constructive 
good-will.  It  must  be  founded  on  a  behef  in  an  un- 
derlying order  which  presupposes  between  individ- 
uals, not  conflict,  but  community  of  interest  in  all 
that  pertains  to  human  well-being.  Once  such  a 
spirit  is  imparted  to  the  parties  to  Industry,  once 
it  is  accepted  with  all  that  it  presages  of  individual 
gain  and  public  service,  Industry  itself  will  win  a 
new  position  and  a  new  vitaUty,  and  prosperity  will 
follow  in  the  wake  of  industrial  enterprise.  Such 
will  be  the  outcome  whether  we  think  of  Industry 
as  limited  to  men  engaged  in  a  single  process,  or 
as  comprising  the  races  and  the  nations  which  em- 
brace mankind. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION 

Some  years  ago,  I  brought  to  my  summer  home  at 
Kingsmere,  in  the  province  of  Quebec,  a  sun-dial 
which  I  had  come  across  in  Boston,  in  what  was 
formerly  the  basement  of  a  church.  In  the  changes 
which  cities  undergo,  the  church  basement  had  be- 
come a  place  of  business,  a  transformation  more  or 
less  characteristic  of  the  modern  world  since  the 
days  of  the  Industrial  Revolution.  The  dial  bore 
the  significant  date,  1777.  It  was  evidently  made 
in  the  first  years  of  American  Independence,  after 
the  severance  of  relations  between  Great  Britain 
and  her  kin  beyond  the  seas. 

Kingsmere  lies  amid  the  Laurentian  Hills.  The 
Laurentians  are  the  earth's  oldest  hills,  the  first 
mountains  that  emerged  above  the  waters  by 
which  at  one  time  the  earth  was  covered.  Geolo- 
gists say  that  nowhere  else  in  the  world  can  the 
early  geological  periods  be  studied  with  so  much 
ease  and  precision.  Upon  the  exposed  surface  of 
the  Laurentians  is  to  be  found  the  oldest  form  of 
life  traceable  in  the  past  history  of  the  globe. 
There,  among  these  ancient  associations,  on  the 
edge  of  a  slope,  overlooking  a  sequestered  lake,  I 
placed  the  new-found  sentinel  of  Time. 


150  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

There  was  something  romantic  in  all  that  the 
dial,  thus  placed,  suggested  of  historic  interest  and 
the  mutations  of  the  years.  The  fires  of  the  forge 
in  which  it  was  made  had  been  hot  in  their  resent- 
ment toward  Britain.  With  changed  location,  its 
pedestal  had  become  the  near  companion  of  a  staff 
flying  the  British  flag.  It  belonged  to  the  oldest  in- 
struments Invention  had  designed  for  recording 
time.  Kingsmere  seemed  to  afford  it  an  abiding 
place  amid  surroundings  which  were  eminently  fit- 
ting. It  was  of  the  very  part  of  the  Laurentian 
HiUs  in  which  it  stood  that  Francis  Parkman,  him- 
self a  citizen  of  Boston,  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
University,  wrote:  "In  these  ancient  wilds,  to 
whose  ever  verdant  antiquity  the  pyramids  are 
young  and  Nineveh  a  mushroom  of  yesterday; 
w^here  the  sage  wanderer  of  the  Odyssey,  could  he 
have  urged  his  pilgrimage  so  far,  would  have  sur- 
veyed the  same  grand  and  stern  monotony,  the 
same  dark  sweep  of  melancholy  woods,  —  here, 
whUe  New  England  was  a  solitude,  and  the  settlers 
of  Virginia  scarcely  dared  venture  inland  beyond 
the  sound  of  a  cannon-shot,  Champlain  was  plant- 
ing on  shores  and  islands  the  emblems  of  his 
faith." ' 

The  dial  seemed  to  suggest  thoughts  such  as 
these  of  Canada's  historic  background.    It  was 

'  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,  vol.  ii,  p.  199.  Frontenac 
Edition.   Toronto,  1900. 


THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION         151 

equally  a  source  of  delight  in  what  it  recalled  of 
Harvard  days.  I  had  yet  to  see  it  was  to  witness 
the  English-speaking  peoples  reunited  in  the  cause 
of  Freedom,  and  to  see  wherein  it,  too,  was  to  prove 
a  mighty  emblem  of  Faith. 

As  all  who  are  familiar  with  sun-dials  know, 
they  consist  of  two  parts  —  the  style  or  gnomon, 
usually  the  edge  of  a  plate  of  metal  or  a  small  rod, 
always,  when  in  position,  parallel  to  the  axis  of 
the  earth,  and  pointing  to  the  north  pole;  and  the 
dial-face,  on  which  are  marked  the  numerals  de- 
scriptive of  the  hours  of  the  day.  The  tune  is 
shown  by  means  of  the  shadow  cast  by  the  sun 
from  the  style  upon  the  graduated  surface  of  the 
dial-face.  The  forms  which  may  be  given  to  dials 
are  almost  infinite.  The  most  common  form  is  the 
horizontal  dial,  having  the  plane  of  the  dial  parallel 
to  the  horizon,  and  constantly  making  with  the 
style  an  angle  equal  to  the  latitude  of  the  place, 
since  the  style  must  always  point  to  the  north  pole. 

Marvellous  as  is  the  precision  with  which  this 
little  instrument  records  the  hours  of  the  day, 
more  wonderful  still  is  the  fact  that  it  simultane- 
ously discloses  with  accuracy  the  points  of  the 
compass  in  an  exact  relationship  to  the  hours.  At 
mid-day,  the  sun's  shadow  is  directly  over  the 
hour  XII.  The  line  made  by  the  shadow  points 
like  a  slender  arrow  with  equal  precision  to  the 
north.    Once  in  true  position,  the  dial  not  only 


152  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

suggests,  but  is  irrefutable  evidence  of  a  perfect 
order  and  a  complete  harmony  in  all  that  per- 
tains to  Time  and  Space  throughout  the  physical 
universe. 

If  such  an  order  exists  in  Nature;  if,  looking 
upon  the  face  of  a  dial,  we  are  able  to  know  at  a 
glance  the  hour  of  the  day,  the  points  of  the  com- 
pass, the  direction  of  the  earth's  axis,  and  the  lati- 
tude of  the  place  in  which  we  stand ;  if  all  material 
things  of  the  heavens  and  of  the  earth  are  thus  re- 
lated in  a  perfect  harmony  which  the  human  in- 
telligence is  able  to  grasp;  is  it  conceivable,  is  it 
rational  to  believe  that  underlying  the  social  rela- 
tions of  men  and  of  nations,  an  order  is  not  discov- 
erable somewhere,  obedience  to  which  will  bring  as 
perfect  a  harmony? 

In  the  chaos  which  envelops  human  relations 
throughout  the  world  to-day,  has  the  time  not 
come  for  search  after  such  an  order?  When  the 
War  is  over,  if  reconstruction  is  to  be  in  accord- 
ance with  methods  which  afford  promise  of  endur- 
ing results,  will  it  suffice  to  return  to  attitudes 
and  practices  which  have  brought  unparalleled  suf- 
fering to  mankind?  Is  not  all  that  Humanity  has 
been  called  upon  to  endure,  evidence  of  a  wanton 
departure  somewhere  from  the  purpose  of  God 
among  men?  We  loiow  whence  the  deviation  has 
arisen.  It  is  in  our  industrial  and  international  re- 
lations.  We  have  turned  the  dials  of  human  con- 


THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION         153 

duct  to  commercial  uses  when  they  were  intended 
as  guides  to  the  divinity  which  hes  everywhere 
about  us.  Consecrated  as  we  now  are  to  a  higher 
service,  can  we  not  begin  anew,  this  time  with  be- 
Uef  in  Divinity,  and  accepting  some  law  which  evi- 
dences a  divine  order,  seek  out  the  rules  of  conduct 
and  methods  of  organization  which  accord  with 
the  principles  it  suggests.  The  sun-dial  reveals  to 
us  that,  in  the  physical  universe,  position  is  the  se- 
cret to  the  discovery  of  design.  Why  should  we 
not  commence  with  what  in  human  relations  corre- 
sponds to  position  in  Nature,  and  try  first  of  all  a 
new  attitude,  an  attitude  of  Faith  instead  of  the 
time-worn  attitude  of  Fear.  The  conception  of  In- 
dustry as  in  the  nature  of  social  service  affords  us 
the  foundations  of  such  an  attitude.  A  behef  in 
our  fellow  men  equal  to  that  which  we  have  in  our- 
selves is  all  that  is  necessary  to  remove  the  human 
blindness  which  for  so  long  has  made  us  strangers 
to  one  another,  and  ofttimes  enemies  as  well. 

A  right  attitude  of  the  parties  to  Industry  toward 
each  other  is  essential  to  the  success  of  any  efforts 
at  reconstruction.  Given  an  attitude  of  mutual 
confidence  and  constructive  good-will,  industrial 
reconstruction  becomes  the  problem  of  effecting 
co-operation  between  the  parties  to  Industry  and 
co-ordination  of  their  functions  so  as  to  ensure 
the  utmost  freedom  in  the  intersveaving  of  human 


154  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

effort.  In  a  process  so  vast  and  infinitely  detailed 
as  Industry,  this  is  possible  only  through  gen- 
eral adherence  to  rules  of  conduct  and  methods  of 
organization  based  upon  principles  which  accord 
with  some  law  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  bring 
all  essential  elements  within  its  operation. 

The  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health,  discovered 
and  enunciated  by  Pasteur,  is  such  a  law.^  It  points 
the  w^ay  to  co-operation  between  the  parties  to  In- 
dustry, and  to  co-ordination  of  human  effort,  on 
a  scale  as  enduring  as  it  is  universally  applicable. 
It  is  a  law  applicable  alike  to  Industry  as  a  whole, 
and  to  the  minutest  relations  arising  in  its  indi- 
vidual processes.  Moreover,  it  is  as  applicable  to 
international  as  to  industrial  relations.  This  is  true 
both  of  the  principles  founded  upon  this  law,  and 
of  the  rules  of  conduct  and  methods  of  organiza- 
tion based  on  these  principles. 

Some  will  say  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and 
Health  is  a  mere  abstraction.  To  this  it  may  be 
answered,  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health  is 
not  more  of  an  abstraction  than  the  Law  of  Gravi- 
tation, the  Law  of  the  Conservation  of  Energy,  or 
the  Law  of  Evolution,  upon  which  Science  has  pro- 
ceeded to  interpret  the  physical  universe.  In  the 
case  of  each  of  these  so-called  "laws,"  Science  has 

^  The  reader  will  find  the  passage  in  which  the  phrase  "The  Law 
of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health"  appears,  and  which  is  quoted  at  page 
A  of  this  book,  in  The  Life  of  Pasteur,  by  Rene  Vallery-Radot,  vol. 
II,  p.  222.  Constable,  London,  191 1. 


THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION        155 

ventured  to  explain  certain  facts  of  the  material 
universe  by  means  of  hypotheses  which  make  these 
facts  intelligible  and  reasonable.  In  each  case  she 
has  put  forth  a  proposition  in  accordance  with 
which  it  is  possible  to  give  sequence,  orderly  rela- 
tion, and  meaning  to  what  otherwise  would  be 
unrelated  and  inchoate  elements.  If  the  physical 
universe  is  rational  and  can  be  understood,  is  it  not 
reasonable  to  suppose  that,  in  the  field  of  human 
relationships,  as  respects  human  right  and  obliga- 
tion, there  are  also  laws  which  govern  conduct  in 
accordance  with  previous  thought?  ^ 

Pasteur,  who  first  used  the  expression  "the  Law 
of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health,"  was  as  famiUar  with 
the  methods  and  the  significance  of  the  terminology 
of  Science  as  any  man  who  ever  lived.  When  he 
spoke  of  this  law,  and  of  "the  Law  of  Blood  and  of 
Death"  to  which  it  was  opposed,  he  was  seeking, 
not  to  coin  abstract  phrases,  but  to  give  to  mankind 
a  working  hypothesis  whereby  in  the  study  of  hu- 
man life  a  meaning  might  be  accorded  social  rela- 
tions which  would  be  intelligible  and  reasonable 
in  a  universe  the  outcome  not  of  Chance,  but  of 
Mind. 

The  Law  of  Gravitation  asserts  that  there  is 
operating  throughout  the  universe  a  force  by  which 
bodies  are  drawn  or  by  which  they  tend  toward  the 

^  The  reader  is  referred  to  part  n,  chapter  rn,  The  Assurance 
of  Immortality,  by  Harry  Emerson  Fosdick  (New  York,  Macmillan 
Co.,  1916),  quotation  from  which  source  is  hereby  acknowledged. 


156  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

centre  of  the  earth.  The  Law  of  the  Conservation 
of  Energy  asserts  that  force  in  the  universe  is  per- 
sistent, that  it  cannot  be  destroyed  or  augmented. 
The  Law  of  Evolution  asserts  that  in  all  things 
organic  and  inorganic  there  has  been  a  develop- 
ment from  simphcity  to  complexity,  a  gradual  ad- 
vance from  a  simple  or  rudimentary  condition  to 
one  that  is  more  complex  and  of  a  higher  charac- 
ter. In  each  case,  the  designation  "Law"  is  given 
to  the  sequence  described,  not  because  it  is  some- 
thing which  has  been  absolutely  demonstrated, 
but  because  it  is  supported  by  so  many  confirm- 
ing facts;  admits  of  no  exceptions,  in  explaining  the 
workings  of  certain  known  phenomena  in  accord- 
ance with  an  unbroken  order  reigning  throughout 
the  universe;  and  accords  them  a  place  in  a  plan 
which  is  capable  of  intelligent  explanation.  A  uni- 
versal cosmic  order  which  is  wholly  rational  and 
law-abiding  is  the  fundamental  assumption  of  all 
Science.  It  assumes  that  those  propositions  are  true 
which  are  necessary  to  make  the  facts  of  life  in- 
telligible and  reasonable.  It  was  in  precisely  this 
spirit,  Uke  Newton,  like  Copernicus,  and  hke 
Darwin,  that  Pasteur,  with  his  highly  trained  in- 
telligence and  deep  human  sympathies,  asserted  a 
truth  his  scientific  insight  had  divined  whereby 
meaning  and  rationahty  is  given  to  a  class  of  so- 
cial phenomena  which  have  an  important  bearing 
on  the  whole  of  human  life. 


THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION         157 

Having  ascertained  the  existence  of  a  law,  scien- 
tists proceed  to  construct  theories  and  frame  prin- 
ciples which  are  in  accord  with  it,  and  which  are 
capable  of  appUcation  in  practice.  As  scientists 
have  proceeded  in  this  fashion,  they  have  helped 
to  bring  order  out  of  chaos. 

Amid  a  mass  of  phenomena  more  varied  and 
intricate,  and  more  subtle  and  elusive  than  any 
the  physical  universe  displays,  Pasteur  has  given 
to  mankind  as  searching  and  profound  an  analysis 
of  the  fundamental  causes  of  human  progress  and 
human  failure  as  has  ever  been  given.  We  may 
well  proceed  to  test  human  conduct  by  the  laws  he 
has  disclosed.  By  gaining  understanding  of  the 
law  which  is  necessary  to  rationahze  the  facts  of 
experience,  and  give  reasonableness  to  human  life 
in  its  social  relations,  we  should  be  able  to  unfold 
the  theories  and  principles  which,  practically  ap- 
plied, lead  to  the  ultimate  triumph  of  an  order 
capable  of  rendering  Humanity  enduring  service. 

Substituting  a  spiritual  interpretation  of  life  for 
the  materialistic  interpretation  of  the  universe,  an 
order  which  implies  ultimate  perfection  in  human 
character,  and  consequently  in  all  human  relations, 
is  alone  consonant  with  a  conception  of  Deity 
equal  in  scope  and  reasonableness  to  that  accorded 
Intelligence  in  "the  universal  cosmic  order,"  which 
is  the  fundamental  assumption  of  science.  The 
Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health  gives  to  social 


158  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

relations  a  place  which  is  capable  of  intelligent  ex- 
planation, in  an  order  implying  ultimate  perfec- 
tion. Like  the  Law  of  Gravitation,  the  Law  of  the 
Conservation  of  Energy,  and  the  Law  of  Evolution, 
the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health  suggests  in  its 
nomenclature  the  sequence  it  embodies.  Present- 
ing resemblances  to  the  Law  of  Gravitation  in  the 
physical  universe,  it  asserts  that  in  the  realm  of 
human  intercourse  there  exist  rules  of  conduct  and 
methods  of  organization  which  incUne  all  effort  to- 
wards successful  co-operation  and  co-ordination  in 
a  manner  that  develops  personality  and  promotes 
social  progress.  With  aspects  akin  to  the  Law  of 
the  Conservation  of  Energy,  it  asserts  that  these 
rules  and  methods  can  lose  none  of  their  inherent 
worth,  that  they  never  fail.  And  like  the  Law  of 
Evolution,  which  recognizes  a  gradual  advance  from 
a  rudimentary  condition  to  one  of  a  higher  charac- 
ter, it  asserts  continuous  development  from  imper- 
fection toward  perfection  in  individual  personal- 
ity, and  the  well-being  of  human  society. 

The  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health  is  a  part  of 
the  larger  Order  which  sustains  a  divine  creation, 
and  which  evidences  a  universe  begotten  of  a  ben- 
eficent Dcily,  not  a  world  the  outcome  of  Chance, 
nor  even  of  Intelligence,  limited  to  the  direction 
of  Matter  and  Force.  In  industrial  and  interna- 
tional relations,  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and 
Health  is  made  to  prevail  through  regard  for  the 


THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION        159 

individual  as  an  end  in  himself,  not  merely  as  a 
means  to  an  end.  Its  application  therefore  de- 
mands clear  discernment  between  human  and  ma- 
terial values,  between  the  spirit  which  gives  hfe, 
and  the  material  form  which  accords  an  outward 
expression.  Above  all  else,  it  calls  for  recognition 
of  the  sacredness  of  human  personahty.  The  prin- 
ciples founded  upon  this  Law  take  the  form  of  rules 
of  conduct  or  methods  of  organization  which  tend 
to  eliminate  Fear  and  to  estabhsh  Faith  between 
the  individual  and  his  personal  and  material  en- 
vironments. Escape  from  domination,  and  a  sense 
of  freedom  is  the  reward  of  obedience  to  this  Law, 
a  freedom  not  denied  the  humblest  being  in  God's 
creation. 

There  was  scientific  insight,  not  less  in  the 
comprehensiveness  of  the  factors  Pasteur  named 
than  in  the  circumstance  of  their  co-ordination. 
Peace,  Work,  and  Health  are  inclusive  of  all  condi- 
tions essential  to  effective  co-operation  between  the 
parties,  and  to  co-ordination  of  effort  in  Industry. 
Not  less  remarkable  is  the  fact  that  in  all  industrial 
and  international  relations  they  are  inseparable. 
The  three  are  necessary  if  there  is  to  be  perfect 
freedom  in  the  interweaving  of  human  effort. 
Whatever  tends  to  advance  the  one,  tends  also  to 
advance  the  others;  whatever  tends  to  destroy  the 
one,  tends  to  destroy  the  others  also.   Such  prog- 


160  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ress  as  Industry  or  Society  makes  under  conditions 
inimical  to  any  one  or  all  of  the  three  is  in  spite  of, 
not  in  consequence  of,  such  conditions,  and  is  al- 
ways at  some  sacrifice  because  of  them.  Not  only 
are  Peace,  Work,  and  Health  inter-related,  they 
are  also  interdependent.  They  are  perfectly  co-or- 
dinated in  this  one  law  through  its  accord  with  an 
underlying  order  which  manifests  itself  now  in  this 
principle,  now  in  that,  and  which  operates  through 
all  alike  to  the  increase  of  Faith  and  the  casting  out 
of  Fear.  The  Law  of  Blood  and  of  Death  is  a  con- 
trary law.  It  substitutes  Fear  for  Faith,  and  by 
breaking  the  harmony  between  Peace,  Work,  and 
Health,  forces  discord  into  the  whole  of  hfe. 

Most  of  the  confusion  in  Industry  has  arisen 
through  failure  to  appreciate  the  interdependence 
of  the  constituent  elements  of  this  one  law.  Too 
generally  it  is  assumed  that  the  Labor  Problem, 
so  called,  is  a  problem  concerned  exclusively  with 
Work,  and  that  it  is  something  distinct  and  apart 
from  the  problems  of  Peace  and  of  Health.  The 
three  are  indissolubly  interwoven.  They  are  in- 
separable elements  of  the  vast  relationship  de- 
scribed by  the  words  "Industry  and  Humanity" 
and  which  through  world-wide  interweaving  of 
human  effort  unites  mankind  in  an  enterprise  that 
encompasses  the  globe. 

In    considering    the    application  of   principles 


THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION        161 

founded  on  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health, 
the  multiphcity  of  the  relations  arising  in  Industry 
should  occasion  no  concern.  Careful  study  reveals 
that  though  complex  and  numerous,  they  are  capa- 
ble of  very  simple  classification  and  arrangement. 
Theoretically  considered,  they  will  be  seen  to  grow 
out  of  a  fundamental  relation  in  the  nature  of  an 
agreement  between  the  different  parties,  to  unite 
in  the  work  of  production.  As  an  agreement  the 
relationship  necessarily  presents  three  component 
features:  its  parties,  its  terms,  and  the  methods 
of  its  execution.  It  matters  not  how  many  the 
parties,  or  what  their  race,  creed,  age,  sex  or 
nationality,  or  how  numerous  or  different  the 
terms,  or  how  varied  and  extensive  the  methods 
by  which  production  is  carried  on  and  distribu- 
tion effected;  at  some  point  or  other,  each  and 
every  factor  embraced  in  the  category  of  indus- 
trial relations  will  be  found  to  have  its  appropriate 
place  as  pertaining  to  one  or  other  of  these  three 
constituent  elements  of  an  agreement,  expressed  or 
implied. 

If,  as  concerns  each  of  these  three  constituent 
features  of  what  we  may  call  the  industrial  agree- 
ment, we  have  regard  for  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work, 
and  Health,  or,  in  other  words,  for  the  principles  un- 
derlying peace,  work,  and  health  in  their  bearing 
upon  industrial  standards,  we  shall  have  all  that 
it  is  essential  to  consider,  all,  in  fact,  that  broadly 


162  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

interpreted  it  is  possible  to  consider  with  respect  to 
industrial  relations.  ^ 

A  perfectly  adjusted  industrial  order  would  be 
one  in  which  there  was  due  regard  for  the  principles 
underlying  peace,  w^ork,  and  health  as  applied  to 
relations  in  Industry  in  respect  to  the  parties,  the 
terms  of  the  industrial  agreement,  and  the  methods 
of  executing  the  terms.  The  existence  of  such  a  per- 
fectly adjusted  industrial  order  would  be  found 
to  disclose  a  perfectly  organized  poHtical  order  as 
well.  For  if,  in  all  the  relations  within  Industry, 
there  existed  perfect  adjustment,  the  habit  of  mind 
of  communities  would  be  such  that,  in  the  domain 
of  politics,  variation  from  the  laws  applicable  to  In- 
dustry would  be  unnatural. 

Though  such  perfection  is  not  to  be  expected,  it 
is  an  ideal  toward  the  attainment  of  which  every 
individual  in  his  relations  with  others  may  strive. 
While  local  effort  may  seem  of  little  avail  in  the 
arena  of  world  forces,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
world  forces  themselves  are  none  other  than  the 
sum-total  of  lesser  influences.  While  an  influence, 
in  one  locality,  may  be  exercised  in  a  manner  wholly 
unrelated  to  like  efforts  elsewhere,  a  union  of  forces 
may  be  effected  in  most  unexpected  ways.  United 
influences  are  themselves  augmented  by  a  law  of 
acceleration,  as  applicable  to  forces  at  work  in  hu- 

^  The  reader  is  here  referred  to  the  Appendix,  Chart  No.  V,  illus- 
trative of  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health,  in  relations  within  8uid 
without  Industry. 


THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION         163 

man  relations  as  to  physical  forces  in  the  material 
world. 

The  collective  will  is  not  something  superim- 
posed; it  is  a  consensus  of  individual  wills.  If  So- 
ciety is  to  be  reconstructed  for  the  greater  well- 
being  of  mankind,  it  will  find  the  lines  of  enduring 
development,  not  in  the  uncertain  changes  which 
great  upheavals  effect,  but  in  the  general  applica- 
tion to  Industry  and  International  Polity  of  princi- 
ples which  have  a  bearing  upon  the  whole  of  life. 

It  is  not  extent  or  forms  of  organization,  nor 
amounts  or  methods  of  remuneration  in  Industry 
that  will  solve  industrial  problems  as  they  arise, 
but  the  application  of  right  principles  to  the  human 
relations  which  the  contacts  of  Industry  occasion. 
Forms  and  methods,  organization  and  equipment, 
remuneration,  and  government  in  Industry,  all 
these  play  a  part ;  but  the  test  is  not  with  them. 
It  lies  in  the  principles  on  which  they  are  founded. 
To  discover  the  ideas  that  accord  with  the  funda- 
mental law  of  progress  and  to  make  prevail  the 
principles  which  embody  them,  is  the  one  and  only 
way  of  unifying  and  wisely  directing  world  influ- 
ences which,  properly  controlled,  are  ever  ready  to 
obey  the  will  of  man  to  the  promotion  of  his  high- 
est good. 

The  circumstance  that  the  processes  of  Industry 
are  constantly  undergoing  change,  that  the  num- 
bers employed  tend  ever  to  increase  and  the  area  of 


164  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

activity  ever  to  expand,  may  render  it  increasingly 
difficult  to  approximate  the  many  factors  and  in- 
fluences at  work;  it  in  no  degree  alters  what  is  fun- 
damental in  human  relations,  or  the  unfaiUng  op- 
eration of  right  principles  effectively  applied.  The 
principles  underlying  Peace,  Work,  and  Health  ap- 
plied to  any  of  the  innumerable  relations  of  Inter- 
national Polity  or  of  Industry  cannot  operate  other 
than  for  the  good  of  the  whole.  As  their  application 
is  effected  now  here  and  now  there,  now  in  this  re- 
lationship, now  in  that,  now  within  this  commu- 
nity, now  within  that,  whether  within  Industry  or 
without  it,  so  gradually  the  whole  becomes  trans- 
formed. Wherever  an  advance  is  made,  the  forces  of 
blood  and  death  are  compelled  to  retreat  before  a 
law  of  life  which  tends  not  toward  destruction  and 
annihilation,  but  toward  an  ever-increasing  vital- 
ity in  Industry  and  all  that  Industry  sustains. 

A  pebble  thrown  into  a  pond  produces  a  dis- 
turbance which  radiates  in  expanding  circles  from 
centre  to  circumference,  and  a  movement  at  any 
point  on  the  circumference  occasions  a  counter- 
movement  toward  the  centre  and  across  the  sur- 
face of  the  whole.  So  it  is  with  an  influence  freed  in 
a  community,  or  an  idea  thrown  into  the  thought  of 
the  world.  Within  Industry,  and  within  the  Com- 
munity in  which  Industry  is  carried  on,  forces  in 
accord  with  the  principles  underlying  Peace,  Work, 
and  Health,  and  ideas  born  of  their  sway,  act  and 


THE  BASIS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION        165 

react  in  ceaseless  motion  on  an  ever-widening  scale. 
Right  ideas,  once  apparent,  gain  acceptance  to  the 
exclusion  of  wrong  ones.  Confusion  and  conflict, 
however  discouraging  and  disheartening,  are  but 
the  evidence  of  the  wrestling  of  contrary  laws,  and 
therefore  of  the  need  of  keener  discernment  and 
heightened  zeal  in  the  application  of  right  princi- 
ples. Sooner  or  later  men  will  come  to  see  that 
only  that  course  of  conduct  which  is  capable  of  in- 
definite apphcation  and  unlimited  expansion  should 
be  maintained. 

In  the  endeavor  to  make  a  right  order  prevail 
through  the  apphcation  and  co-ordination  of  prin- 
ciples that  underlie  progress.  Society  has  at  hand 
the  powerful  agencies  of  Discovery  and  Invention, 
Government,  Education,  and  Opinion.  ^  Each  has 
demonstrated  its  capacity  to  further  human  well- 
being.  All  to-day  operate  on  an  hitherto  unpar- 
alleled scale.  Right  principles  respecting  Peace, 
Work,  and  Health  are  not  confined  in  their  operation 
to  any  particular  phase  of  industrial  development, 
or  to  Industry  within  the  confines  of  any  one  state. 

^  The  reader  is  here  referred  to  the  Appendix,  Charts  Nos.  YI  and 
VII,  illustrative  of  the  action  and  reaction  of  Discovery  and  Invention, 
Government,  Education,  and  Opinion  in  relations  within  and  without 
Industry;  also  to  Charts  Nos.  VIII  and  IX,  illustrative  of  the  parties 
to  Industry,  the  terms  and  working  out  of  industrial  agreements,  and 
suggestive  of  contributing  factors  and  influences.  Charts  Nos.  VIII 
and  IX  are  also  intended  to  be  more  or  less  suggestive  of  the  many 
factors  and  influences  of  which  account  has  to  be  taken  in  any  com- 
prehensive study  of  industrial  relations. 


166  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

They  apply  equally  in  all  countries  and  at  all 
times.  Moreover,  the  same  principles  are  as  ap- 
plicable to  international  as  to  industrial  relations. 
They  are  the  one  foundation  upon  which  Industry 
and  Nationahty  may  build  in  common,  not  with 
jealous  fears  which  industrial  and  international 
rivalries  too  often  beget,  but  in  the  spirit  of  lofty 
emulation  and  co-operation  by  which  a  universal 
brotherhood  is  ultimately  to  be  achieved.  Fraught 
with  such  vast  significance  to  mankind,  the  dis- 
covery of  any  right  principle  surely  merits  painsj 
taking  investigation,  and  its  application  persistent 
effort.  The  task  is  one  which  requires  patience 
and  perseverance.  Endeavor  may  be  sustained  and 
ennobled  by  the  thought  that  in  the  art  of  ad- 
justing the  relations  of  men,  as  in  the  researches 
of  science,  a  regard  for  the  infmitesimally  small  is 
the  one  sure  path  of  approach  to  the  attainment 
of  the  infinitely  great. 


CHAPTER  VII 
PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE 

Upon  the  ancient  precept,  "To  do  justly  and  to 
love  mercy,"  are  founded  all  the  principles  which 
underlie  Peace.  Upon  it  are  founded  also  the  prin- 
ciples which  underlie  Work  and  Health.  In  a  spir- 
itual interpretation  of  the  universe.  Justice  and 
Mercy  are  the  agencies  which  make  of  the  world 
one  vast  brotherhood.  Under  their  beneficent 
power,  there  is  not,  in  all  the  relations  of  Industry 
or  Nationality,  a  bond  which  may  not  be  loosed,  nor 
a  yoke  which  cannot  be  broken.  They  are  of  the 
essence  of  the  divine  order  which  sustains  mankind, 
and  by  which,  ultimately,  it  shall  be  redeemed. 

Justice  and  Mercy  imply  discernment  between 
material  and  human  values,  and  a  recognition  of 
personality.  They  evidence  a  spirit  of  considera- 
tion and  constructive  good-will  which  alone  is  able 
to  impart  vitality  to  rules  of  conduct  and  methods 
of  organization  framed  with  a  view  to  its  expres- 
sion. They  are  at  the  root  of  confidence  in  indus- 
trial and  international  relations,  and  more  than 
all  else  lead  to  the  belief  in  common  as  contrasted 
with  opposed  interests  in  whatever  is  of  concern 
to  the  parties  to  Industry  and  to  rival  nations. 
Justice  and  Mercy  are  the  most  potent  of  influences 


168  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

in  the  elimination  of  Fear  and  the  estabhshment 
of  Faith  between  individuals  and  their  personal 
and  material  environments.  They  beget  a  sense  of 
freedom,  and  subdue  the  desire  for  domination. 
They  instil  a  consciousness  of  harmony,  which  is 
all  that  is  meant  by  Peace.  Conceived  in  its  many 
aspects,  whether  as  applied  to  individuals  or  to 
communities,  Peace  connotes  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  harmony ;  that  is  why  Peace  is  insepara- 
ble from  Work  and  Health. 

To  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy:  these  are  living 
principles;  they  are  spirit  and  life,  not  mere  letters 
of  a  law.  Like  Truth  and  Love,  they  are  part  of 
"the  indwelhng  of  the  Spirit  that  moves  in  hfe,"  the 
one  incontrovertible  manifestation  of  God  in  man. 
How  to  transfuse  this  living  force  is  our  problem. 
Let  us  recognize  at  the  outset  that  it  resides  in 
men,  not  in  things;  that  it  is  kept  vital,  as  Bergson 
has  pointed  out,  only  by  counteracting  the  ten- 
dency of  every  formula  to  crystallize  the  living 
thought  that  gives  it  birth;  of  the  idea  to  be  op- 
pressed by  the  word ;  and  of  the  spirit  to  be  over- 
whelmed by  the  letter.  Rules  of  conduct  and 
methods  of  organization  are  instruments  we  are 
obliged  to  employ,  but  they  are  only  instruments. 
They  are  the  insignia  upon  the  face  of  the  dial 
of  human  relations,  and  are  useless,  save  where 
they  reveal  the  spirit  to  which  they  are  intended 
to  give  external  and  visible  manifestation. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        169 


Industrial  and  international  relations,  being  es- 
sentially human  relations,  have  their  origin  in 
personal  contacts.  It  is  with  respect  to  the  con- 
tacts to  which  Industry  and  the  State  give  rise 
that  the  work  of  eliminating  fear  and  suspicion 
and  of  establishing  faith  and  confidence,  neces- 
sarily begins.  Nor  does  vast  organization  make 
any  difference,  save  to  emphasize  the  significance 
of  the  personal  equation. 

What  in  the  simpler  relationships  of  Industry 
is  a  matter  of  inspiring  faith  between  individuals 
becomes,  with  the  expansion  of  Industry,  the  more 
difficult  problem  of  the  maintenance  of  confidence 
between  groups.  The  art  of  establishing  relations 
of  confidence  between  expanding  groups  in  Indus- 
try is  akin  to  the  highest  of  the  arts  of  statesman- 
ship. It  demands  the  same  order  of  ability  as  is 
required  to  preserve  peace  and  harmony  between 
diverse  elements  that  compose  a  nation.  The  in- 
tricacy of  the  task  is  apparent  once  it  is  seen  how 
individuals  are  cemented  by  race,  creed,  or  senti- 
ment, which  may  reflect  bodies  of  opinion  quite 
different,  if  not  actually  antagonistic. 

In  the  expanding  circles  of  interest,  which  in 
Industry  come  to  resemble  the  so-called  "spheres 
of  influence"  in  international  diplomacy,  situa- 
tions arise  quite  as  critical,  and  demanding  just  as 


170  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

delicate  adjustment,  as  any  questions  which  pre- 
sent themselves  in  world  politics.  Indeed,  a  funda- 
mental error  in  coping  with  industrial  problems 
to-day  is  the  failure  to  recognize  that  industrial 
questions  have  become  increasingly  the  concern 
of  politics.  When  this  is  realized,  nations  will  take 
stock  anew  in  essential  qualities  of  leadership  ahke 
in  the  State  and  Industry. 

In  estabUshing  confidence,  for  that  is  all  that 
the  elimination  of  fear,  distrust,  and  antagonism 
amounts  to,  too  great  emphasis  cannot  be  placed 
on  personal  character.  It  is  singular  how  men  who 
see  this  so  clearly  in  domestic  relations  lose  sight  of 
it  so  often  elsewhere.  In  Industry  and  Pohtics  it 
seems  to  be  assumed  that  an  individual  has  but  to 
become  identified  with  a  position  for  his  character 
to  take  on  befitting  attributes.  A  very  ordinary 
individual  becomes  a  member  of  a  Board  of  Di- 
rectors, or  of  a  Cabinet,  and  thereupon  a  sort  of 
halo  encircles  his  brow.  In  his  own  estimation  and 
in  the  popular  imagination,  he  may  become  en- 
dowed with  all  the  virtues  of  his  office. 

Unearned  increment  attaches  to  reputation,  just 
as  it  does  to  property.  Mere  position  counts  for 
much.  This  circumstance  emphasizes  the  impor- 
tance of  character  as  a  first  requisite  in  persons 
endowed  with  influence  and  authority.  Disillusion- 
ment in  such  cases  shatters  confidence,  and  works 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        171 

irreparable  injury  to  honest  and  generous  souls. 
He  who  has  lost  confidence  can  lose  little  more.  It 
is  faith  which  bestows  upon  the  occupant  of  a 
position  the  dignity  or  honor  that  attaches  to  it. 
Establish  confidence  between  individuals,  and  all 
the  nobler  impulses  and  emotions  are  freed. 

Beneath  character  lie  its  essential  elements. 
Possessed  of  a  sense  of  fair  play;  "  on  the  square," 
as  they  say;  being  considerate  and  humane;  — 
these,  more  than  any  other  quahties,  embrace,  in 
a  concrete  way,  what  men  like  to  find  in  character 
as  it  expresses  itself  in  the  all-round  relationships 
of  Industry  and  Politics.  What  are  these  quahties 
other  than  the  embodiment  of  Justice  tempered 
by  Mercy !  In  those  who  possess  and  in  those  who 
encounter  them,  they  preclude  meanness,  dishon- 
esty, and  indifference  in  their  many  forms.  Where 
square  dealing  and  open  and  above-board  treat- 
ment make  themselves  felt,  there  can  be  no  neglect 
of  grievances,  either  real  or  imaginary;  nor  can 
there  be  long  continuance  of  underhand  methods 
and  deceptive  practices.  It  is  injustice  and  decep- 
tion that  lie  at  the  root  of  political  and  social 
unrest. 

However  much  in  Industry  or  in  the  State  the 
circle  of  relationships  widens,  at  every  point  of 
personal  contact,  from  centre  to  circumference, 
character  remains  the  basis  of  confidence,  and  is 
essential  in  the  preservation  of  peaceful  relations. 


172  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Character  being  important  in  transactions  between 
individuals,  how  increasingly  important  it  becomes 
where  numbers  of  individuals  act  in  corporate  ca- 
pacities! Where  the  growth  of  Industry  no  longer 
permits  immediate  relationships,  a  new  respon- 
sibility devolves  upon  principals  and  those  who 
act  as  their  representatives. 

Labor  and  Capital  in  their  mutual  relations  have 
everything  to  gain  from  character  in  their  repre- 
sentatives. Entire  organizations  gain  or  lose  stand- 
ing from  the  kind  of  agents  and  leaders  who  rep- 
resent them.  Some  industrial  corporations  have 
reputations  which  make  deahngs  with  them  on 
the  part  of  Labor  next  to  impossible,  not  because 
they  are  corporations,  nor  because  of  shareholders 
or  directors,  but  because  of  the  known  character 
of  some  one  executive  officer.  Similarly,  there  are 
labor  organizations  that  cannot  get  anywhere  in 
negotiations  with  employers,  not  because  they  are 
labor  organizations,  nor  because  of  their  member- 
ship, but  because  of  the  character  of  certain  of 
their  representatives.  In  practically  all  of  the  con- 
troversies between  corporations  and  trade  unions 
of  which  I  have  had  direct  knowledge,  with  but 
one  or  two  exceptions,  what  has  militated  against 
successful  collective  bargaining  has  been,  not  an 
unwillingness  to  deal  with  organizations  as  such, 
but  rather  an  entire  want  of  confidence  in  the 
character  of  individuals,  or  in  their  ability  to  carry 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        173 

out  pledges  and  to  implement  agreements.  Nor  has 
lack  of  faith  been  confined  to  Capital  only.  I  have 
seen  mistrust  justified  on  the  part  of  Labor.  Where 
a  corporation  attorney  has  once  bribed  an  official  of 
a  labor  organization,  sooner  or  later  both  the  cor- 
poration and  the  labor  organization  come  to  hold 
each  other  in  contempt.  It  matters  little  by  whom 
a  bribe  is  given  or  by  whom  accepted,  the  entire 
organization,  be  it  an  organization  of  Capital  or 
of  Labor,  comes  to  share  the  taint  of  an  immoral 
transaction  and  to  suffer  under  the  reputation  of  it. 

It  is  the  same  with  keeping  faith  in  understand- 
ings and  agreements  as  with  attempted  negotia- 
tions. Individuals  or  corporations,  whether  rep- 
resentative of  Capital  or  of  Labor,  whose  word  is 
not  as  good  as  their  bond,  or  whose  bond  proves 
fraudulent,  have  never  quite  the  same  chance 
again.  Reputations  there  are  that  shadow  men 
and  organizations  through  the  years,  and  for  one 
"  Hound  of  Heaven  "  which  follows  to  redeem,  there 
seem  to  be  a  dozen  Hounds  of  Hell  ever  ready  to 
destroy. 

Character  as  an  inspirer  of  confidence  is  impor- 
tant in  subordinates  not  less  than  in  high  officials. 
Acts  of  tyranny  and  dishonesty  on  the  part  of  an 
arbitrary  or  ill-principled  foreman  or  superintend- 
ent may  do  more  injury  to  an  industry  than  the 
most  liberal  reforms  instituted  by  high-minded  di- 
rectors and  managers  may  offset  in  years.  More- 


174  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

over,  subordinate  officials,  through  the  power  and 
authority  vested  in  them,  which  very  often  enables 
them  to  conceal  their  own  shortcomings,  may  keep 
the  real  cause  of  disturbances  undiscovered.  The 
record  of  strikes  is  full  of  instances  of  the  arbi- 
trary acts  or  favoritisms  of  petty  officials  being  re- 
sponsible for  all  the  trouble.  The  unwillingness 
of  superiors  to  review  the  actions  of  subordinates 
has  many  a  time  cost  industrial  enterprises  much 
more  than  the  salaries  of  all  their  officials  combined. 

Confidence  is  essentially  a  belief  in  integrity  and 
impartiality.  Men  will  overlook  errors  of  judgment 
where  they  will  not  tolerate  duplicity.  Human 
nature  is  ready  enough  to  forgive  mistakes,  but  it 
will  never  forgive  deliberate  injustice.  The  one  is 
indicative  of  limitation  of  character,  but  the  other 
is  evidence  of  inherent  defect.  That  is  why  there 
should  always  be  an  appeal  from  those  in  subordi- 
nate positions  to  others  higher  in  authority.  It  is  a 
true  instinct  which  causes  men  to  resent  arbitrary 
conduct.  The  less  intelligent  officials  are,  the  more 
apt  they  are  to  make  mistakes.  No  one  expects  pit 
bosses  in  mines  or  foremen  of  works  to  have  the 
sagacity  of  managers.  That  is  why  the  workings 
of  collieries  and  large  industrial  cstabhshments 
should  never  be  at  the  mercy  of  pit  bosses  or  fore- 
men, if  it  is  at  all  possible  for  the  management  to 
avoid  it. 

There  is  a  further  reason  why  persons  high  in 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        175 

authority  should  be  careful  in  the  selection  of  those 
who  represent  them,  and  be  held  responsible  for 
their  acts.  Subordinate  officials  come  in  direct  con- 
tact with  the  forces  of  Labor.  The  impression  left 
upon  the  mind  of  Labor  as  to  the  attitude  of  Capi- 
tal and  capitaUsts  generally  may  be  good  or  bad  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  attitude  of  subordinate  offi- 
cials. To  the  worker,  unable  to  judge  of  a  condition 
beyond  his  immediate  point  of  contact,  the  nearest 
official  directly  represents  the  attitude  of  the  em- 
ployer toward  all  Labor  in  the  industry  concerned. 
The  only  opportunity  many  a  workingman  has  of 
forming  any  impression  of  the  heads  of  an  industry 
is  through  the  kind  of  men  placed  in  immediate 
authority  over  him,  and  through  the  sort  of  justice 
he  sees  meted  out  to  his  fellow  workers  and  himself. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  where,  as  so  often 
happens  in  large  industries,  the  workers  are  of  for- 
eign extraction  knowing  httle  of  the  language  and 
customs  of  the  countries  to  which  they  migrate. 
All  too  often,  foreigners  get  their  impressions  as 
dumb  beasts  get  theirs,  through  the  kind  of  treat- 
ment they  receive. 

It  matters  httle  whether  a  workman  speaks  the 
prevaihng  language  of  the  country  or  not,  he  will 
invariably  resent  the  efforts  of  an  official  to  convey 
the  importance  of  his  position  by  severe  language 
and  affected  mannerisms.  The  commonest  faults 
of  officials  he  in  personal  bearing  and  address,  in 


176  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

an  unwillingness  to  give  immediate  attention  to 
grievances,  and  in  favoritism  as  between  work- 
men. Men  whose  work  is  that  of  directing  other 
men  cannot  be  too  considerate  in  attitude,  too 
attentive  to  irritations,  or  too  impartial.  The  art 
of  obtaining  co-operation  by  methods  other  than 
those  of  force  requires  some  understanding  of  hu- 
man nature,  and  a  little  sympathy  with  its  short- 
comings. Men  who  do  not  possess  these  qualities, 
in  addition  to  technical  Imowledge,  should  never 
be  placed  in  positions  of  authority. 

The  farther  removed,  either  in  position  or  ac- 
tual distance,  those  at  the  head  of  an  industry 
are,  the  greater  becomes  the  responsibiUty,  first  to 
select  wisely  the  men  to  whom  authority  is  to  be 
delegated,  and,  secondly,  to  make  sure  of  its  proper 
exercise.  This  becomes  a  double  responsibility 
where  capital  employed  in  a  business  represents 
the  investments  of  others.  There  is  a  responsi- 
bility to  workers  who  give  their  labor,  to  see  that 
they  are  accorded  fair  treatment,  and  a  responsi- 
bility to  investors  who  loan  capital,  to  see  that 
their  profits  are  in  no  wise  the  fruit  of  injustice. 

Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  spoke  from  wide  ex- 
perience and  exceptional  knowledge  when  he  told 
the  engineering  classes  of  Cornell  University  that, 
while  theretofore  the  chief  executives  of  important 
industrial  corporations  had  been  selected  largely 
because  of  their  capacity  as  organizers  or  financiers. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        177 

the  time  was  rapidly  coming  when  the  important 
quaUfication  for  such  positions  would  be  a  man's 
abihty  to  deal  successfully  and  amicably  with 
Labor.  ^  The  responsible  head  of  every  industry 
should  possess  the  disposition  to  treat  justly  and 
humanely  all  workers  under  his  jurisdiction. 

In  these  days  of  big  business,  when  activities  of 
the  largest  industrial  corporations  are  no  longer 
merely  national,  but  international  and  even  world- 
wide, all-round  responsibihty  for  working  condi- 
tions and  for  the  treatment  accorded  Labor  in  In- 
dustry requires  ampler  recognition  than  it  has  thus 
far  gained.  Where,  as  under  the  domestic  system 
of  Industry,  the  employer  supplied  the  necessary 
capital  and  himself  directed  the  business,  responsi- 
bility was  plain  enough.  The  personal  relation- 
ship was  immediate  and  its  obligations  were  self- 
evident.  To-day,  large  corporations  are  made  up  of 
stockholders,  directors,  executive  officers,  and  em- 
ployees. The  stockholders  provide  the  capital  and 
remain  the  real,  though  the  unidentified,  employers 
of  Labor.  Personal  relationships  between  stock- 
holders and  employees  have  all  but  wholly  disap- 
peared. It  cannot  be  pretended,  however,  that 
with  the  disappearance  of  personal  relationships, 
personal  responsibility  has  also  vanished.  Wage- 
earners,  because  no  longer  able  to  trace  the  source 

*  The  Personal  Relation  in  Industry:  Address  delivered  on  the  oc- 
casion of  Founder's  Day,  January  ii,  191 7. 


178  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

of  capital  which  unites  with  their  labor  in  the  w^ork 
of  production,  are  not  free  to  regard  themselves  as 
exempt  from  the  full  performance  of  services  for 
which  they  receive  remuneration.  No  more  have 
shareholders,  in  the  acceptance  of  dividends,  the 
right  to  regard  with  indifference  conditions  under 
which  Labor  is  obliged  to  perform  the  services  that 
gain  productive  returns  for  investments. 

The  responsibility  of  an  individual  stockholder 
in  a  corporation  is  in  proportion  to  his  interest. 
The  circumstance  that  the  expansion  of  Industry 
and  the  form  of  industrial  development  render  im- 
possible the  exercise  of  this  responsibility  through 
inamediate  personal  relationships,  increases  rather 
than  lessens  responsibility  for  its  rightful  exercise 
on  the  part  of  all  who  act  in  a  representative  capac- 
ity. In  practice,  stockholders  confine  their  function 
to  voting  for  directors  who  represent  their  inter- 
ests and  to  endorsing  recommendations.  The  stock- 
holder who  realizes  no  further  duty  has  failed  to 
appreciate  the  right  relation  of  Industry  to  Hu- 
manity. Whilst  avoiding  immediate  personal  re- 
sponsibility, he  must,  where  injustice  exists,  share 
the  enduring  condemnation  of  those  who  are  indif- 
ferent to  the  conservation  of  human  life. 

Directors  are  charged  with  the  great  responsibil- 
ity of  developing  the  policies  of  corporations,  of  se- 
lecting their  officers,  and  of  seeing  that  corporations 
are  properly  managed.   In  practice,  this  responsi- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        179 

bility  has  been  recognized  more  in  relation  to  strictly 
financial  and  business  aspects  than  with  respect  to 
determining  labor  poUcies.  Emphasis  has  been  upon 
material  considerations  of  plant  and  equipment, 
output,  prices,  and  profits,  and  not  sufficiently 
upon  human  considerations  apphcable  to  indus- 
trial standards,  which  under  a  spiritual  interpreta- 
tion of  hfe  are  necessarily  of  first  concern.  Atten- 
tion has  been  concentrated  on  problems  of  finance 
and  organization  to  the  subordination  of  the  intri- 
cate questions  involved  in  the  handhng  of  Labor. 
It  is  with  respect  to  labor  policies  and  their  ad- 
ministration, more  than  to  aught  else,  that  the  old 
order  in  Industry  must  give  place  to  a  new. 

The  responsibiUty  of  directors  of  large  corpora- 
tions for  labor  policies,  and  for  the  methods  of  their 
administration,  is  far  from  being  as  clearly  recog- 
nized and  accepted  as  it  should  be.  Indeed,  there 
are  important  corporations  which  have  openly 
disclaimed  any  such  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
directors.  There  can  be  no  defence  for  such  an  at- 
titude. The  claims  of  human  life  are  superior  to 
those  of  material  gain.  In  their  right  and  power  to 
shape  pohcies,  directors  hold,  so  to  speak,  the  con- 
sciences of  those  who  employ  Labor  through  the  in- 
vestment of  capital  in  Industry.  The  authority  of 
directors  as  respects  poUcy  is  unlimited.  It  should 
be  fully  exercised  in  determining  working  condi- 
tions and  the  standards  of  justice  by  which  the 


180  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

relationships  of  employer  and  employed  are  to 
be  maintained.  It  should  reach  even  farther.  It 
should  embrace  responsibility  for  the  spirit  in 
which  all  industrial  poUcies  are  to  be  made  to 
prevail. 

Personal  acquaintance  with  conditions  and  with 
Labor  on  the  part  of  directors,  as  well  as  on  the 
part  of  officers  and  stockholders,  is  a  substan- 
tial guarantee  against  the  sort  of  injustice  that 
breeds  discontent  and  fosters  strife.  Frequent  vis- 
its to  industrial  establishments  and  inspection  of 
industrial  premises  by  those  in  authority  cannot 
be  other  than  fruitful  of  good  results.  The  wider 
the  circle  of  acquaintances  formed  on  such  occa- 
sions, and  the  closer  the  first-hand  study  of  condi- 
tions, obviously  the  better.  Whatever  furthers 
mutual  understanding  is  mutually  profitable.  Per- 
sonal contacts,  besides  affording  to  directors  and 
executive  officers  a  wider  knowledge  of  Labor  and 
its  needs  and  conditions,  give  to  Labor  the  feeling 
that  it  is  regarded  with  interest,  and  to  subordi- 
nate officials  an  incentive  to  discharge  their  duties 
adequately.  Moreover,  very  often  impressions  of 
one  kind  or  another  gather  around  men  whose 
positions  remove  them  from  frequent  contacts 
with  others,  and  sometimes  a  bad  impression  is  as 
fatal  in  its  effects  as  a  bad  character.  Want  of  sym- 
pathy and  lack  of  confidence  are  not  infrequently 
due  to  want  of  acquaintance  and  lack  of  knowledge. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        181 

There  are  important  considerations  which  he 
about  and  beyond  Industry  and  which  are  af- 
fected by  all  that  transpires  within  Industry  itself. 
Among  such  are  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  indus- 
trial communities,  the  health  and  vitality  of  work- 
ers, and  the  spirit  of  contentment  which  pervades 
a  people.  The  activities  of  corporations  are  an 
important  part  of  a  country's  social  and  industrial 
life;  and  directors  can  no  more  divest  themselves 
of  responsibility  for  co-operation  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  social  standards,  than  the  State  itself  can 
be  freed  of  its  obligation  to  safeguard  the  interests 
of  society  as  a  whole  from  the  selfishness  of  special 
interests.  There  must  be  regard,  not  for  the  im- 
mediate parties  to  Industry  only,  but  also  for  the 
environments  in  which  organized  efforts  are  car- 
ried on.  Indifference  to  human  well-being,  and 
abuse  of  power  in  any  phase  of  industrial  relations, 
cannot  fail  to  react  unfavorably  upon  Industry,  and 
also  upon  the  community  in  which  Industry  is  con- 
ducted. This  twofold  reaction  is  inevitable,  and  is 
certain  to  strike  somewhere  to  the  injury  of  all  con- 
cerned. In  like  manner,  industrial  well-being  is 
affected  by  all  that  affects  community  well-being. 
There  are  extremely  few  points  at  which  indus- 
trial and  community  life  do  not  touch.  Wherever, 
in  any  particular,  the  one  depends  on  the  other, 
there  character  becomes  a  centre  of  vital  influence 
which  may  radiate  far  and  wide. 


182  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Arbitrary  behavior  in  Industry  may  lead  to  vio- 
lent movements  in  industrial  communities.  On 
the  other  hand,  law  and  order  in  Industry  is  itself 
dependent  on  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order  in 
the  State,  and  the  degree  of  confidence  thereby 
inspired.  It  is  to  pubhc  assembhes,  executives, 
and  courts  that  a  nation  necessarily  looks  for  its 
laws,  and  for  efficient  administration.  If  members 
of  legislatures  are  corrupt,  if  officeholders  can 
be  bribed,  if  a  judiciary  is  not  above  reproach, 
whence  is  to  come  the  confidence  in  law  and  order 
on  which  all  else  is  based?  With  Politics  and  In- 
dustry inter-related  as  they  are  to-day,  the  integ- 
rity of  men  occupying  positions  of  trust  in  the 
State  is  hardly  one  whit  less  important  to  Industry 
than  the  integrity  of  the  men  engaged  in  Industry 
itself.  Many  an  industrial  problem,  so  called,  is 
not  an  industrial  problem  at  all,  but  a  political 
problem,  a  problem  of  government.  It  is  no  more 
possible  to  found  Industry  upon  a  quagmire  of  un- 
certainty or  distrust  within  the  State,  and  hope 
that  it  may  endure,  than  it  is  to  build  a  house 
upon  the  sand,  and  expect  that  it  will  not  fall  when 
the  rain  descends  and  the  floods  come,  and  the 
winds  blow  and  beat  upon  it. 

As  Industry  develops,  as  its  plants  expand  in 
size  and  become  widely  distributed;  as  the  num- 
bers of  employees  increase,  and,  with  them,  the 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        183 

numbers  also  of  managers,  superintendents,  fore- 
men, and  bosses;  as  divergent  personal,  social,  and 
financial  interests  widen  the  gulf  between  those  in 
authority  and  those  under  it,  and  make  frequent 
and  immediate  intercourse  impossible,  —  new  sets 
of  conditions  necessarily  arise,  and  wholly  new 
classes  of  problems  present  themselves.  Distance, 
whether  of  class  or  of  communication,  is  an  obstacle 
to  complete  understanding  well-nigh  insurmount- 
able. Yet  absence  of  misapprehension  Ues  at  the 
root  of  industrial  peace,  and  is  an  element  vital  to 
efficient  service  in  Industry.  Handicaps  of  dis- 
tance, where  such  exist,  must  be  overcome  by 
enlightened  policies.  International  or  world-wide 
Industry  demands  a  consideration  of  personal  rela- 
tionships entirely  unknown  to  Industry  in  its  ear- 
lier and  simpler  forms. 

Investors,  directors,  and  managers  of  many  in- 
dustrial concerns  have  wholly  failed  to  recognize 
the  significance  of  the  changes  which  Industry  has 
undergone.  They  have  not  adequately  appreciated 
what  these  changes  involve  in  the  way  of  clearly 
defined  labor  policy.  Methods  of  meeting  the  al- 
tered relations  between  employers  and  employed, 
which  machinery  has  been  largely  instrumental  in 
creating,  have  not  caught  up  with  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  Industry  consequent  upon  mechanical 
inventions.  Many  a  corporation  is  seeking  to  cope 
with  twentieth-century  conditions  by  nineteenth, 


184  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

and  even  by  eighteenth-century  methods,  and 
wonders  why  it  is  unsuccessful  in  averting  indus- 
trial unrest.  To  grope  along  in  such  fashion  is  Uke 
striving  to  meet  problems  of  middle  life  with  the 
limited  vision  of  childhood.  It  is  interpreting  the 
stress  of  modern  times  in  terms  of  the  seclusion  of 
the  middle  ages.  The  War,  with  its  use  of  aero- 
planes, submarines,  and  "tanks,"  its  machine  guns 
and  liquid  fire,  has  shown  how  httle  international 
conflict  to-day  resenables  war  of  a  century  ago,  even 
in  methods  of  fighting.  Changes  in  methods  of 
warfare  are  but  a  reflection  of  changes  Industry 
itself  has  undergone. 

With  the  expansion  of  Industry,  confidence,  more 
than  ever,  becomes  essential  to  the  preservation 
of  industrial  peace.  Its  maintenance  requires  the 
establishment  of  new  ways  and  means.  Where  per- 
sonal contacts  are  lost,  and  relationships  between 
employer  and  employee  become  impersonal,  meth- 
ods and  devices  of  one  kind  or  another  have  to 
be  created  to  preserve  a  faith  which  of  necessity 
rests  on  a  vital  relationship.  Otherwise,  Industry 
ceases  to  be  a  great  creative  process  in  which  La- 
bor, Capital,  Management,  and  the  Community 
co-operate,  and  becomes  instead  a  vast  mechanical 
routine. 

Confidence,  being  faith  in  fair  intentions  and  just 
dealings,  constitutes  a  first  line  of  defence  against 
the  distrust  and  suspicion  that  breed  fears.  Whilst 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        185 

confidence  is  inseparable  from  character,  which 
finds  no  adequate  substitute  in  forms  or  devices  of 
any  kind,  both  confidence  and  good-will  may  be 
fostered  by  methods  and  measures  which  beget  a 
right  attitude,  and  keep  human  nature  true  to  its 
better  self.  The  opportunity  of  personality  which, 
through  industrial  transitions,  has  been  lost  in  one 
direction  must  be  met  in  some  other  way  through 
evidence  of  fair  and  just  intentions,  by  instrumen- 
talities which  serve  to  eliminate  Fear  and  to  estab- 
lish Faith. 

II 

During  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror,  a 
new  officer  of  the  highest  dignity,  the  Justiciar, 
was  appointed.  He  represented  the  King  in  all 
matters;  and  at  all  times  administered  the  legal 
and  financial  business  of  the  country.  Henry  I  en- 
deavored to  curb  the  power  of  the  feudal  nobility 
by  centrahzing  and  systematizing  the  Royal  Ad- 
ministration. As  the  annual  courts  were  found  in- 
adequate for  the  increasing  business  of  the  nation, 
the  Chief  Justiciar,  accompanied  by  some  of  the 
other  Justices  of  the  King's  Court,  began,  toward 
the  end  of  Henry's  reign,  to  make  occasional  cir- 
cuits of  the  Kingdom,  principally  for  fiscal,  but 
partly  also  for  judicial,  purposes.  The  local  courts 
were  thus  brought  into  closer  connection  with  the 
supreme  national  tribunal.   By  introducing  order 


186  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

and  system  into  the  administration  of  law  and  gov- 
ernment, Henry  prepared  the  way  for  subsequent 
important  reforms. 

Under  the  highly  centrahzed  system  of  adminis- 
tration of  that  early  period,  the  Sovereign  evidently 
realized  that  the  impression  subjects  might  come 
to  have  of  the  Crown  would  depend  upon  the  re- 
dress of  wrongs  and  the  elimination  of  grievances 
in  accordance  with  known  and  accessible  means  of 
obtaining  Justice;  also  that  the  maintenance  of 
law  and  order  throughout  the  Kingdom  demanded 
some  immediate  and  direct  link  between  the  King 
and  his  subject  people. 

I  beheve  it  can  be  shown  that  law  and  order 
within  Industry  at  the  present  time  is  just  about 
at  the  stage  constitutional  development  reached 
in  England  under  the  Norman  and  Plantagenet 
Kings.  Nor  is  this  altogether  a  matter  of  surprise. 
The  Industrial  Revolution  which  gave  birth  to 
modern  Industry  had  nowhere  run  its  course  a  cen- 
tury ago;  it  is  working  its  transformations  in  dis- 
tant lands  even  now.  It  gave  rise  inevitably  to 
highly  centralized  organization.  Accordingly,  gov- 
ernment in  Industry  is  presenting  to-day  all  the 
problems  which  centralization  in  government  has 
always  presented.  Industry  at  the  moment  is  at 
the  threshold  of  another  revolution  as  mighty  in 
its  transforming  powers  as  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion of  a  century  ago.  The  change  to  be  wrought 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        187 

out  is  the  transition  from  centralized  authority  to 
self-government.  It  is  likely  to  parallel,  in  all  essen- 
tial features,  corresponding  evolutions  in  govern- 
ment within  the  State.  Realizing  this,  we  may  re- 
ceive much  in  the  way  of  valuable  suggestion  from 
steps  which  made  political  freedom  possible,  and 
which  have  marked  the  course  of  political  progress. 

So  long  as  within  industrial  demesnes  the  ad- 
ministration of  Justice  is  to  be  retained  as  a  part 
of  managerial  prerogative,  directors  and  managers 
of  large  industrial  corporations  can  well  afford  to 
study  the  methods  by  which  centralized  authority 
in  the  State  sought  to  hold  the  scales  of  Justice 
in  even  balance.  To  their  own  good  as  well  as  to 
the  advantage  of  law  and  order  in  Industry,  they 
might  begin  with  the  device  which  absenteeism,  in 
the  case  of  the  Conqueror,  and  expansion,  in  the 
case  of  the  early  Henrys,  rendered  necessary,  and 
appoint  some  Justiciar  with  authority  to  move 
among  employees  and  officials,  and  see  that  Justice 
is  fairly  administered. 

Three  or  four  years  ago,  I  took  occasion  to  inquire 
of  the  Royal  North-West  Mounted  PoUce  concern- 
ing the  methods  which  have  proven  so  success- 
ful in  maintaining  law  and  order  in  unorganized 
districts  of  Western  and  Northern  Canada.  I  was 
told  that  the  entire  districts  were  regularly  pa- 
trolled by  members  of  the  Force;  that  settlers  were 
visited  upon  their  farms  and  ranches,  and  inter- 


188  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

viewed  concerning  violations  of  law  and  the  ade- 
quacy of  the  protection  afforded.  This  routine  is 
followed,  irrespective  of  the  right  of  settlers  to  com- 
municate at  any  time  with  PoHce  Headquarters. 
Crime  is  tracked  down  with  vigilance,  and  with 
such  resources  as  the  Government  has  at  its  com- 
mand. By  this  visible  link  between  authority  and 
citizenry,  confidence  is  established  and  settlement 
maintained  in  districts  that  readily  enough  lend 
themselves  to  depredations  and  lawlessness. 

Under  any  centrahzed  system  in  Industry,  the 
appointment  of  a  personal  representative  by  direc- 
tors or  a  corporation  head  to  serve  as  a  link  be- 
tween the  management  and  employees  is  a  neces- 
sary first  step  in  the  administration  of  justice  and 
the  supervision  of  labor  poUcy.  The  services  of  such 
an  officer,  if  he  be  possessed  of  character,  tact,  and 
the  right  kind  of  disposition,  should  prove,  in  all 
large  corporations,  second  only  to  those  of  the 
manager  himself. 

Gifted  with  personality,  a  management's  rep- 
resentative can  do  very  much  to  impart  to  the 
working  forces  a  right  appreciation  of  the  attitude 
of  the  corporation;  to  curb  arbitrary  and  ill-consid- 
ered action  on  the  part  of  subordinate  officials;  to 
detect  grievances  in  incipient  stages  and  remove 
sources  of  irritation;  and  so  restore  some  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  close  relationship  between  employer  and 
employee  which  have  been  lost  through  large-scale 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        189 

Industry.  With  a  proper  development  of  his  func- 
tion, such  a  representative  might  come  to  be  as 
important  in  his  way  in  the  affairs  of  an  industrial 
enterprise  as  the  Chancellor  was  in  Equity  days  in 
the  affairs  of  the  State.  Some  corporations  have 
already  made  such  appointments  with  the  utmost 
advantage  to  management  and  employees. 

In  the  reign  of  King  John,  the  people,  under  the 
leadership  of  the  barons,  secured  from  the  Crown 
the  "Magna  Charta."  It  has  been  characterized 
by  Hallam  as  the  "keystone  of  English  liberty." 
Stubbs,  in  his  "Select  Charters,"  says:  "The  whole 
of  the  constitutional  history  of  England  is  a  com- 
mentary on  this  charter."  Here  is  a  page  of  British 
history  replete  with  illumination.  In  its  nature, 
the  Great  Charter  was  little  more  than  an  asser- 
tion of  fundamental  rights  as  between  the  Sov- 
ereign and  his  people,  drafted  in  a  form  to  which 
appeal  could  be  made  at  any  and  all  times.  As 
such  it  was  a  shield  against  unjust  exactions  on  the 
part  of  arbitrary  authority. 

I  know  of  no  device  better  calculated  to  preserve 
law  and  order  in  Industry  than  a  simple  statement 
in  printed  form  of  the  rights  of  employer  and  em- 
ployee respectively  on  all  matters  which  are  likely 
to  become  subjects  of  controversy.  In  its  simplest 
form,  such  a  statement  may  include  little  more 
than  principles  and  policies  to  govern  relations  be- 
tween workers  and  employers.  Elaborated,  it  may 


190  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

be  extended  to  include  all  that  is  essential  respect- 
ing terms  of  employment,  living  and  working  con- 
ditions, and  procedure  in  the  method  of  presenta- 
tion and  adjustment  of  complaints  and  grievances. 
The  absence  of  any  clearly  defined  statement  with 
respect  to  these  several  particulars  is  a  source  of 
constant  fear  of  injustice,  and  leads  to  much  unrest 
in  Industry. 

There  are  clauses  in  the  Magna  Charta  which 
seem  so  elementary,  one  wonders  how  any  sov- 
ereign could  have  sought  to  maintain  authority 
other  than  by  observance  of  them.  It  was  John's 
character  and  disposition  that  rendered  the  Char- 
ter necessary.  We  are  told  that  he  was  an  oriental 
despot,  a  tyrant  of  the  worst  sort;  that  his  personal 
character  inspired  utter  distrust  and  aversion  in  all 
classes  of  his  subjects.  The  despot  in  Industry  is 
fortunately  becoming  more  and  more  the  exception. 
Unhappily  he  has  not  wholly  disappeared.  Man- 
agers who  are  unwilling  to  give  their  workmen  any 
written  form  of  agreement,  or  pubUcly  to  set  forth 
rights  and  principles  in  matters  essential  to  em- 
ployment, possess  something  of  the  character  and 
disposition  of  John,  and,  unrestrained,  are  as  harm- 
ful to  Industry  as  John  was  to  the  State. 

There  are  sixty-three  clauses  in  the  Magna 
Charta.  All  might  be  quoted  to  advantage.  One 
or  two  bear  so  directly  upon  rights  which  demand 
definition  in  employment,  it  may  be  well  to  pause 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        191 

and  consider  them  for  a  moment.  It  is  interesting 
in  passing  to  observe  that  sixty-three  rights  were 
not  regarded  by  the  people  of  John's  day  and  gen- 
eration as  an  excessive  number  to  be  asserted.  Two 
clauses  in  particular  merit  special  attention : 

No  free  man  shall  be  taken,  or  imprisoned,  or  dis- 
seized, or  outlawed,  or  exiled,  or  anywise  destroyed; 
nor  will  we  go  upon  him,  nor  send  upon  him,  but  by 
the  lawful  Judgment  of  his  peers  or  by  the  law  of  the 
land. 

To  none  will  we  sell,  to  none  will  we  deny  or  delay, 
right  or  justice. 

These  are  clauses  thirty-nine  and  forty  of  the 
Great  Charter.  It  has  been  remarked  that  in  these 
clauses  "are  clearly  contained  the  Habeas  Corpus 
and  the  Trial  by  Jury,  the  most  effectual  securities 
against  oppression  which  the  wisdom  of  man  has 
hitherto  been  able  to  devise."^  "There  is,"  says 
Taswell-Langmead,  "a  breadth  about  the  simple 
language  employed,  as  if  those  who  wrote  it  felt 
they  were  asserting  universal  principles  of  justice."  ^ 
These  principles,  applied  to  employment  in  Indus- 
try, would  secure  every  worker  against  arbitrary 
treatment  and  unjust  discrimination  on  the  part 
of  management,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest 
ofTicials. 

Other    clauses    are    scarcely    less    significant. 

*  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Hist.  Eng.,  i,  219-220. 

*  English  Constitutional  History,  p.  io5.   London,  igo3. 


192  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Clause  seventeen  reads:  Common  Pleas  shall  not 
follow  the  king's  court,  but  be  held  in  some  certain 
place.  The  intent  of  this  clause  was  that  suitors 
might  always  have  a  fixed  and  settled  court  to 
resort  to.  How  many  industries  to-day  employ 
known  methods  of  expeditious  procedure  in  the 
adjustment  of  grievances  and  redress  of  indus- 
trial wrongs? 

Clause  forty-five  reads:  Justices,  constables, 
sheriffs,  and  bailiffs  shall  only  be  appointed  of  such  as 
know  the  law  and  mean  duly  to  observe  it.  Are  only 
officials  of  this  character  retained  in  industrial 
communities? 

Clause  sixteen  reads:  No  one  shall  be  compelled 
to  render  more  than  the  due  service  for  a  knighVs  fee 
or  other  free  tenement.  This  clause  would  seem  to 
have  a  direct  bearing  on  "Sweating"  in  Industry, 
and  many  lesser  abuses ! 

Clause  thirty-five  reads :  There  shall  be  one  stand- 
ard of  measures  and  one  standard  of  weights  through- 
out the  Kingdom.  Change  the  word  "Kingdom"  to 
"Industry,"  the  principle  remains  the  same,  but 
the  clause  seems  to  acquire  peculiar  appropriate- 
ness in  its  apphcation  to  both  Capital  and  Labor. 

Is  it  to  be  expected  that  the  descendants  of  men 
who  were  ready  to  sacrifice  everything  for  the 
assertion  of  fundamental  rights  in  the  State  are 
likely  to  prove  indifferent  to  the  maintenance  in 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       193 

Industry  of  the  principles  they  embody?  It  would 
be  unfortunate  for  both  Industry  and  Liberty  if 
they  were. 

Exact  statement  of  terms  and  conditions  of  em- 
ployment; clearly  defined  and  adequate  means  of 
speedy  redress  of  wrong,  are  essential  to  mutual 
faith  and  a  complete  understanding  between  the 
parties  to  Industry.  There  can  be  intelligent  and 
fair  co-operation,  and  recognition  of  a  conamon  in- 
terest, only  where  knowledge  of  rights  and  duties 
is  general.  Equality  of  knowledge,  wherever  pos- 
sible, is  still  better.  Any  attempt  to  conduct  In- 
dustry along  lines  which  assume  other  than  mutual 
interests,  or  which  presuppose^  other  than  honest 
purpose  and  intelligent  co-operation,  must  inevi- 
tably occasion  injustice,  and  sooner  or  later  lead  to 
open  discord  and  strife.  Industrial  peace  is  based 
on  industrial  justice.  Justice  that  is  uncertain  is 
not  justice  at  all. 

In  the  absence  of  exact  knowledge,  there  is  al- 
ways opportunity  for  unfair  and  arbitrary  practices. 
Where  there  is  uncertainty  as  to  hire  or  discharge; 
as  to  wages,  hours,  or  working  conditions;  as  to 
methods  of  adjusting  grievances,  or  the  enjoyment 
of  customary  rights  and  privileges ;  wherever,  in  a 
word,  uncertainty  exists,  there,  sooner  or  later,  sus- 
picion and  distrust  are  sure  to  arise.  It  matters 
little  whether  the  wrong  alleged  be  real  or  im- 
aginary, it  will  be  aggravated  wherever  there  is 


194  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

nothing  definite  to  which  an  immediate  appeal  can 
be  made.  Officials  very  naturally  prefer  a  free  hand 
in  dealing  with  Labor  under  their  direction,  and  it 
is  the  part  of  wisdom  in  directors  and  managers  to 
permit  the  widest  discretionary  authority  compat- 
ible with  certainty  of  just  dealing  and  fair-play. 
Rightly  interpreted,  a  rule  which  makes  exact  con- 
ditions known  to  all,  to  employer  and  employee 
alike,  is  no  restriction,  but  a  safeguard  which  helps 
to  ensure  freedom. 

Labor  is  entitled  to  its  Magna  Charta  of  In- 
dustrial Liberties.  The  more  comprehensive  the 
Charter  is,  the  more  explicitly  its  stipulations  are 
worded ;  and  the  wider  their  application,  the  better 
for  the  peace  of  Industry,  and  all  that  industrial 
peace  makes  possible.  When  the  Rights  of  Na- 
tions are  similarly  stated,  and  a  Court  of  the  Na- 
tions is  established  to  which  appeals  may  be  made 
with  confidence,  wars  and  the  rumors  of  wars  will 
cease. 

Fair-play  is  best  secured  in  Industry  as  in  sport. 
There  is,  indeed,  no  more  sensible  or  more  read- 
ily appUcable  basis  for  the  regulation  of  Industry. 
This  is  true  not  less  of  rules  and  regulations  volun- 
tarily agreed  upon  by  the  parties  to  Industry  than 
of  the  regulation  of  Industry  by  the  State.  What  is 
regarded  as  necessary  precaution  in  a  boxing  con- 
test, a  horse  race,  or  a  ball  game,  ought  not  to  be 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        195 

viewed  as  unduly  restrictive  when  applied  to  the 
well-being  of  men  and  women  engaged  in  honest 
toil. 

Rightly  conceived,  law  and  order  in  Industry 
is  the  equivalent  of  fair-play  in  sport,  and  of 
the  means  and  methods  taken  to  ensure  it.  For 
games,  there  are  rules  and  regulations;  certain 
practices  are  permitted,  others  are  prohibited. 
The  rules  and  regulations  are  easily  ascertainable; 
they  are  the  same  for  all,  and  are  known  to  all. 
There  is  usually  an  impartially  selected  umpire  or 
referee  to  whom,  in  cases  of  dispute,  appeal  can  be 
made,  and  whose  decision  is  accepted  as  final.  The 
participant  who  fails  to  observe  the  rules  of  the 
game  is  penahzed ;  and  if  guilty  of  foul  practice  or 
unwilling  to  obey  decisions,  is  ruled  out  altogether. 
Within  the  area  thus  secured,  there  is  freedom  of 
play,  a  fair  field  for  all,  and  favors  for  none.  So  it 
should  be  in  Industry.  Let  the  field  be  staked  out; 
the  rules,  regulations,  and  standards  pubUshed ;  and 
let  the  honors  go  to  the  concerns  that  display  re- 
gard for  human  well-being  coupled  with  the  highest 
efficiency.  But  let  there  be  principles  and  policies, 
and  let  it  be  seen  that  the  principles  and  policies 
are  made  applicable  over  the  competitive  area,  and 
are  generally  observed !  Industry  will  then  cease 
to  be  a  guerrilla  warfare  and  will  take  on  some- 
thing of  its  true  character  as  public  service. 

Whatever  is  to  be  said  in  commendation  of  known 


196  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

rules  and  regulations,  is  even  more  applicable  to 
agreements  and  contracts  between  the  parties  to 
Industry.  Under  collective  agreements,  a  sense  of 
equality  between  the  parties  is  estabhshed.  Nei- 
ther dominates  the  other.  Among  the  workers  a 
consciousness  of  security  is  developed  in  pl*ace  of 
a  feeUng  of  uncertainty  and  helplessness.  The  fear 
of  being  wrongfully  discharged  disappears  before 
the  right  to  demand  redress.  A  due  process  of  law 
in  the  adjustment  of  differences  becomes  substi- 
tuted for  the  too  frequent  arbitrary  and  irrespon- 
sible rule  of  higher  officials. 

The  question  of  discipline  in  Industry  is  always 
an  important  and  difficult  one.  Even-handed  jus- 
tice and  reasonableness  must  be  at  the  basis  of  it. 
So  far  as  may  be  possible,  it  should  be  made  profit- 
able and  easy  for  all  parties  to  be  just  and  consider- 
ate, and  unprofitable  and  difficult  for  them  to  be 
the  reverse.  In  deahng  with  human  nature  pos- 
sessed of  inferior  quahties,  justice  may  well  be 
tempered  with  mercy.  Disciphne  will  be  all  the 
more  effective  for  being  mild  rather  than  harsh. 
As  far  as  possible,  disciplinary  penalties  should  be 
corrective.  Except  for  grave  offences,  suspensions 
should  precede  dismissals,  and  warnings  or  com- 
plaint memoranda  precede  suspensions.  To  many 
a  man,  discharge  is  the  equivalent  of  outlawry  and 
dispossession.  Where  discharge  exists  as  a  pen- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        197 

alty,  the  offender  should  have  a  right  to  a  hear- 
ing, and  a  right  to  be  represented  by  a  fellow  work- 
man or  other  quahfied  person.  Justice  may  most 
be  hoped  for  where  the  hearing  is  before  some  board 
on  which  all  the  parties  to  Industry  are  represented. 
The  experience  of  firms  which  have  given  special 
study  to  disciplinary  methods  and  efficiency  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  "hiring  and  firing"  of 
employees  is  best  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  subor- 
inate  officials  and  left  to  a  special  department  or 
officer  charged  with  the  supervision  of  personal  re- 
lations between  officials  and  employees.  Transfer 
from  one  branch  or  department  to  another  is  a 
means  of  avoiding  dismissal  and  minimizing  labor 
turnover,  which  works  very  often  to  the  advantage 
of  both  the  industry  and  the  employees  concerned. 
Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  wisdom 
of  associating  with  the  President's  or  Manager's 
office  a  special  representative  who  may  act  as  a  go- 
between  in  controversies,  and  whose  services  may 
be  availed  of  by  employees  or  their  representatives. 
The  more  the  administration  of  disciphne  can  be 
worked  out  in  accordance  with  methods  known  to 
all,  and  in  a  manner  which  will  hold  the  balances 
even  between  petty  officials  and  workers,  the  bet- 
ter for  industrial  peace. 

It  illustrates  wherein  a  false  emphasis  has  been 
placed  upon  material,  as  contrasted  with  human. 


198  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

considerations,  that  many  concerns  fully  alive  to 
the  importance  of  fair  dealings  with  customers  and 
the  pubUc,  and  to  the  value  of  a  good  reputation 
in  dealings  with  "the  trade,'*  have  been  indiffer- 
ent to  the  appUcation  of  Uke  principles  to  Labor 
in  their  employ.  Companies  that  have  dismissed 
salesmen  who  have  forfeited  sales  through  care- 
lessness, indifference,  or  ill-temper,  have  not  hesi- 
tated to  retain  foremen  and  bosses  who  have  been 
most  indifferent  to  working  conditions,  and  harsh 
and  ill-tempered  in  dealing  with  employees.  Clerks 
are  supposed  to  stand  for  a  company's  ideals  be- 
fore the  pubhc,  while  behind  the  pubUc  practices 
are  sometimes  permitted  which  disclose  an  abso- 
lute disregard  for  ideals.  It  is  not  uncommon  for 
employers  to  instruct  employees  who  have  to  do 
with  the  public  to  see  that  every  complaint  is  care- 
fully looked  into,  that  customers  are  "given  satis- 
faction," and  if  the  fault  rests  with  the  company  to 
see  that  it  is  made  good  "  regardless  of  cost."  How 
rare  it  is  that  Uke  instructions  are  given  to  superin- 
tendents and  foremen  with  respect  to  the  Labor  un- 
der their  control.  Yet  the  one  has  to  do  only  with 
monetary  considerations;  the  other  with  human  life 
as  well !  Employers  should  recognize  that  an  official 
who  disregards  the  well-being  of  his  men  is  as  much 
a  source  of  danger  to  the  industry  that  employs  hun, 
as  a  neglectful  officer  in  the  army  is  to  the  compa- 
nies under  his  command.   Wherever  different  na- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        199 

tures  arc  brought  into  contact  with  one  another, 
too  great  care  cannot  be  exercised  in  securing  for 
positions  of  authority  men  of  broad  human  sym- 
pathies, who  inspire  faith  rather  than  fear. 

Good-will  of  employees  is  as  desirable  as  the 
good-will  of  customers.  "Treat  patrons  the  way 
you  would  want  to  be  treated  if  you  were  in  their 
positions,"  is  regarded  as  good  business.  A  com- 
prehensive view  of  right  relations  in  Industry 
would  regard  as  even  better  business  the  same 
maxim  unrestricted  in  application.  It  would  then 
become  the  Christian  precept,  "Do  unto  others  as 
you  would  have  others  do  unto  you." 

The  President  of  an  important  sales  company  in 
New  York  recently  issued  the  following  injunction 
to  all  the  Company's  employees:  "The  only  true 
basis  of  commercial  success  is  scrupulous  honor  — 
the  kind  that  always  foregoes  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  being  unfair. 
You  can't  upset  the  moral  order  without  coming  tc 
grief,  any  more  than  you  can  upset  the  physical 
order  by  cutting  your  finger  without  blood  and 
pain.  The  broadest  business  men  of  our  time  are 
recognizing  this  supreme  fact.  Our  success  is  go- 
ing to  be  in  direct  proportion  to  our  acknowledg- 
ment of  it,  and  so  far  as  it  lies  in  my  power  to  do 
so  I  intend  to  make  sure  that  we  are  always  fair, 
honorable,  and  polite,  whether  the  other  fellow  is 
or  not."  An  injunction  such  as  this  may  well  serve 


200  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

as  a  model.  As  a  policy  it  leaves  little  to  be  desired 
in  the  promotion  of  confidence  and  good-will. 

In  seeking  the  promotion  of  good-will,  one  has 
but  to  ask  in  what  it  is  that  ill-will  has  its  birth.  A 
moment's  reflection  will  disclose  that,  next  to  posi- 
tive insult,  nothing  so  engenders  bitterness  of  feel- 
ing as  a  sense  of  being  ignored.  That  is  where  per- 
sonality asserts  itself  even  in  the  humblest.  Human 
nature  resents  failure  to  take  account  of  the  human 
equation.  In  industrial  relations,  as  in  all  other 
human  relations,  the  right  to  have  personaUty  re- 
spected is  fundamental.  The  trade  unionist  who 
first  appUed  the  term  "  recognition  "  to  the  demand 
intended  to  compel  attention  to  the  existence  of 
organized  groups  of  workers,  knew  something  of 
the  value  of  words.  While  the  word  recognition 
has  been  used  and  misused  in  industrial  conflicts 
to  the  point  of  exasperation,  it  expresses  an  idea 
fundamentally  sound  in  what  it  conveys  of  a  re- 
quirement essential  to  right  relations  in  Industry. 

In  what  form  recognition  may  best  be  given  is 
something  which  always  demands  consideration. 
Much  win  depend  on  circumstances.  Unless,  how- 
ever, recognition  is  voluntarily  conceded  in  one 
form  or  another,  Labor  sooner  or  later  will  seek  to 
compel  it.  And  it  is  well  for  the  sake  of  Industry 
that  Labor  should. 

The  right  of  association  and  of  organization  by 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        201 

workers  is  a  fundamental  right.  Denial  or  inter- 
ference with  this  right  is  provocative  of  much  ill-will 
in  Industry.  With  organization  is  necessarily  as- 
sociated representation.  The  rights  of  workers  to 
bargain  collectively  and  to  be  heard,  through  chosen 
representatives,  in  matters  pertaining  to  their  em- 
ployment, are  corollaries  of  the  right  of  association. 
It  is  now  pretty  generally  conceded  that  it  is  as 
legitimate  for  Labor  to  associate  itself  into  organ- 
ized groups  to  advance  its  interests,  as  for  Capital 
to  combine  for  the  same  object.  Methods  adopted 
to  effect  and  promote  organization  are  not  infre- 
quently open  to  question,  on  the  part  of  both  Labor 
and  Capital;  but  questionable  practice  and  the 
principle  of  organization  are  not  one  and  the  same 
thing,  and  should  be  kept  separate  and  distinct. 
No  handicap  could  be  severer  than  the  atom-like 
position  of  many  an  isolated  worker  in  the  struggle 
against  forces  of  world-wide  competition.  What  the 
individual  worker  has  lost  of  independence,  through 
the  transitions  and  the  expansion  of  Industry,  he 
is  entitled  to  regain,  so  far  as  may  be  possible, 
through  associated  effort.  He  must  do  this  or  go 
to  the  wall.  It  is  through  associated  effort  that  the 
struggle  for  existence  is  mitigated,  and  because  of 
the  possibilities  of  mutual  aid,  that  the  biological 
law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  is  rendered  inap- 
plicable to  human  relations.  In  collective  secur- 
ity lies  the  elimination  of  the  fears  which  individ- 


202  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ual  isolation  necessarily  begets.  Associated  effort, 
moreover,  induces  an  enlargement  of  sympathy 
and  a  faith  in  others  which  independence  some- 
times helps  to  destroy.  Far-reaching  social  gains 
may  accrue  from  wisely  promoted  association  and 
co-operation  begotten  of  the  necessities  of  isolation. 

Joint  Committees  and  Boards  on  which  repre- 
sentatives of  the  management  and  employees  have 
opportunity  to  consider  matters  of  mutual  interest 
are  useful  media  for  bringing  together  a  company's 
ofTicers  and  its  men,  and  for  developing  friendly  re- 
lations and  preventing  the  estrangements  which 
arise  through  ignorance  and  purely  official  meet- 
ings. It  has  been  well  said  that  "among  honest 
men,  famiharity  breeds  confidence,  not  contempt." 
No  better  maxim  could  be  apphed  to  the  relations 
which  should  govern  in  Industry  between  those 
in  authority  and  those  under  it.  Whilst  personal 
contact  between  stockholders  and  employees,  or 
contact  between  directors  or  even  managers  and 
employees,  is  no  longer  possible  in  large  companies, 
effective  use  may  be  made  of  representation  to  re- 
store what  is  vital  in  these  relationships  by  means 
of  joint  meetings  and  frequent  conference. 

The  wisdom  of  resorting  to  any  means  of  effect- 
ing closer  relationships  between  the  parties  to  In- 
dustry, especially  in  the  case  of  corporations  which 
have  to  do  with  foreign  labor,  must  be  apparent 
once  it  is  recalled  how  readily  suspicions  and  mis- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE        203 

understandings  arise  from  differences  of  language, 
customs,  and  viewpoint,  and  what  temptations 
there  are  to  exploit  the  ignorant.  The  "  problem  of 
understanding  employees  and  being  understood  by 
them  is  a  vital  problem."  Once  this  is  appreciated, 
it  will  be  seen  that  much  thought  must  be  given  to 
the  means  of  best  promoting  personal  relationships 
in  Industry. 

Many  industrial  establishments  have  adopted  the 
plan  of  supplementing  personal  contacts  by  the 
publication  and  distribution  among  their  employ- 
ees of  leaflets,  pamphlets,  and  periodicals  devoted 
to  topics  of  common  concern.  In  helping  to  foster 
a  community  of  interest  between  the  parties  to 
Industry,  social  and  industrial  betterment  plans, 
mutual  benefit  funds,  and  many  forms  of  so-called 
welfare  work,  may  also  render  a  useful  service.  All 
are  not  equally  effective,  and  it  would  be  unwise 
to  single  out  individual  efforts  for  special  mention. 
In  whatever  pertains  to  welfare  work,  and  to  in- 
dustrial betterment  schemes,  much  depends  on  the 
nature  and  size  of  the  industry,  on  the  classes  of 
Labor  employed,  and  on  the  standards  of  its  intelli- 
gence. What  may  minister  to  good-will  among 
immigrants  in  a  frontier  mining  camp  may  be 
wholly  inapplicable  to  American  girls  in  a  New 
England  telephone  exchange.  Devices  which  are 
suitable  to  isolated  establishments  may  be  most 
inappropriate  to  corporations  such  as  railroads 


204  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

with  employees  distributed  over  an  entire  conti- 
nent. Whatever  fosters  community  of  feehng  and 
interest,  however,  minimizes  the  possibihties  of 
industrial  strife. 

It  must  be  remembered,  with  respect  to  welfare 
work  and  the  like,  that  charity  and  philanthropy 
are  no  substitutes  for  justice;  that  in  the  absence  of 
substantial  justice  all  such  schemes  are  rightly  ab- 
horrent to  Labor,  and  usually  defeat  the  ends  for 
which  they  are  projected.  The  observance  of  fun- 
damental principles  in  industrial  relations  is  much 
more  important  than  betterment  plans  or  pro- 
grammes of  any  kind.  Right  principles  are  appli- 
cable to  any  and  every  condition,  and  the  most 
effective  methods  of  promoting  good-will  are  not 
infrequently  those  with  least  display  about  them. 

In  all  these  matters,  we  are  brought  back  to  the 
personal  equation.  Injustices  and  misunderstand- 
ings between  the  parties  to  Industry  are  largely 
a  result  of  lack  of  contact  and  an  inability  to  rec- 
ognize the  common  interest.  Whatever  affords  oc- 
casion for  employers  and  employees,  workingmen 
and  officials,  to  meet  and  confer  together,  to  come 
to  know  and  to  trust  each  other,  and  to  under- 
stand each  other's  problems  and  points  of  view,  is 
in  the  highest  degree  advantageous.  Then  when 
difTiculties  arise,  the  door  opens  naturally  to  con- 
ference. Aloofness  and  distrust  give  way  to  frank 
discussion.    Knowledge  of  each  other  gained  by 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE    1  205 

employers  and  employees  through  frequent  meet- 
ings permits  issues,  as  one  writer  has  expressed  it, 
"to  be  thought  out,  talked  out,  even  fought  out 
without  rancour."  No  matter  what  the  occasion, 
wherever  the  parties  to  Industry  have  become  ac- 
customed to  deal  together  either  by  direct  confer- 
ence or  through  representatives,  the  possibility  of 
serious  friction  is  materially  lessened.  The  princi- 
ple of  the  open  door  between  Management  and 
Labor  is  one  that  cannot  be  too  highly  commended. 


Ill 

"  I  care  not  how  often  I  say  it,  this  war  could  have 
been  avoided  by  accepting  a  conference.  Why  was 
the  conference  not  accepted?  Because  there  was  no 
good-will."  These  momentous  words  were  spoken 
by  Sir  Edward  Grey,  British  Foreign  Secretary,  in 
addressing  the  House  of  Commons  in  London  on 
May  24,  1916.  Could  more  be  said  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  good-will,  or  of  the  importance  of  confer- 
ence? Where,  in  international  and  industrial  re- 
lations, good-will  is  cherished,  peace  is  assured. 
Where  its  presence  is  doubtful,  conference  cannot 
take  place  too  soon. 

With  human  nature  what  it  is,  mistakes,  griev- 
ances, and  differences  will  inevitably  arise  between 
individuals  and  nations  in  their  dealings  one  with 
another.  It  is  a  part  of  the  promotion  of  good-will 


206  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

and  confidence  to  anticipate  these  eventualities, 
and  to  establish  adequate  means  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  right  and  the  redress  of  wrong.  The  agen- 
cies that  in  one  form  or  another  have  been  devel- 
oped out  of  conference,  and  which  have  best  served 
to  maintain  industrial  and  international  peace,  are 
conciliation,  mediation,  investigation,  ^  and  arbitra- 
tion. Utilized  with  sincerity,  they  constitute  an  all 
but  impregnable  line  of  defence  against  industrial 
and  international  strife. 

Concihation  is  always  the  best  of  methods  to 
employ  in  adjusting  differences.  It  has  regard  for 
feelings,  as  well  as  for  facts,  and  feeUngs  are  an 
all-important  consideration  where  human  relation- 
ships are  concerned.  The  whole  effort  of  concilia- 
tion is  necessarily  concentrated  upon  the  elimina- 
tion of  fear  and  the  estabhshment  of  faith  between 
the  parties  concerned.  Its  main  objective  is  to 
make  self-evident  wherein  interests  are  cominon 
and  not  opposed.  Concihation  does  not  imply  com- 
promise, as  that  term  is  used  in  contradistinction 
to  justice,  and  as  some  are  inchned  to  beheve. 
Where  it  successfully  performs  its  mission,  Concili- 
ation removes  doubts  and  misgivings  as  to  the  jus- 

*  Investigation  might  be  designated  as  the  method  of  reliance  upon 
opinion,  since  it  is  as  a  means  of  creating  an  informed  public  opinion 
that  it  gains  a  distinctive  character  and  is  employed  as  a  separate 
method  of  preventing  and  adjusting  disputes.  By  Investigation, 
Public  Investigation  i:^,  of  course,  meant. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       207 

tice  secured.  Conciliation  makes  plain  that  "the 
letter  killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  hfe."  Its  em- 
phasis is  upon  hfe.  As  an  art,  it  embodies  all  the 
other  arts.  There  are  no  honorable  means  it  may 
not  employ  to  minister  to  its  end.  It  summons  to 
its  aid  all  the  higher  virtues,  especially  those  of 
patience  and  endurance.  When  all  else  fails,  Con- 
cihation  persists.  In  the  end,  it  usually  succeeds. 

To  apply  the  term  "compulsory"  to  such  a 
method  seems  a  contradiction  in  terms.  It  is  not, 
however,  to  Conciliation  as  a  method,  but  to  its 
necessary  application  in  given  circumstances  that 
the  words  "  compulsory  conciliation  "  relate.  Where 
the  immediate  parties  to  a  dispute  are  unwilling  to 
employ  concihatory  methods  to  efTect  a  settlement, 
public  authority,  often  with  advantage,  may  in- 
tervene, upon  request  or  of  its  own  initiative.  It 
may  appoint  some  person  or  agency  to  lend  good 
ofTices  toward  efTecting  a  settlement.  Concihation 
then  becomes  known  as  Mediation.  An  unyielding 
attitude  on  the  part  of  one  or  other  of  the  parties 
to  a  dispute  may  render  attempts  at  mediation  of 
no  avail,  but  given  half  a  chance,  personality,  com- 
bined with  experience  and  resource,  and  with  the 
weight  of  authority  behind  it,  usually  finds  a  way 
or  makes  it.  If  a  concihator  be  of  the  right  kind, 
he  will  ask  for  nothing  more  than  to  be  accorded 
an  opportunity  under  such  conditions.  Since  men 
do  not  break  off  relations  in  Industry  that  each 


208  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

may  suffer,  the  odds  are  all  in  favor  of  mediation 
succeeding  once  it  is  given  a  fair  trial. 

With  Labor  and  Capital  it  is  very  much  as  with 
husband  and  wife:  despite  differences,  they  must 
continue  to  live  together,  or  cease  the  relationship 
altogether.  Concihation  relieves  antagonisms.  In 
industrial,  as  in  domestic  relations,  it  is  wise  for 
people  to  keep  their  differences  to  themselves,  and 
to  settle  their  own  disputes.  Outside  intervention 
and  publicity  are  desirable  only  where  it  appears 
that  a  settlement  cannot  be  effected  without  them; 
or  where  intervention  is  necessitated  by  the  inter- 
est of  third  parties.  From  press  accounts  of  strikes 
and  lockouts,  it  might  seem  that  the  severance  of 
relationships  in  Industry  was  a  normal  condition. 
Fortunately  this  is  the  case  not  more  with  individ- 
ual industries  than  with  individual  households. 
Remembering  the  vastness  of  Industry,  the  mar- 
vel is,  how  few  relatively  are  the  evidences  of 
severed  relations. 

No  chapters  of  industrial  or  political  history  are 
more  inspiring  than  those  which  tell  of  the  work  of 
great  conciliators.  Few  men  serve  their  day  and 
generation  better  than  those  who,  in  Industry  or  in 
Politics,  are  privileged  to  play  this  role.  The  na- 
ture of  service  of  this  kind  is  such  that  very  little 
can  be  said  about  it.  Self-effacement  and  publicity 
are  at  opposite  poles.  The  art  of  Concihation  is 
usually  successful  only  to  the  degree  to  which  it  is 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE  I  209 

exercised  apart  from  publicity  and  with  befitting 
modesty.  Confidence  must  be  the  essence  of  the 
feehng  Concihation  inspires.  To  gain  confidence, 
discernment  as  to  what  should  be  left  unsaid  is  quite 
as  important  as  discretion  with  regard  to  what  is 
said.  By  its  fruits,  and  not  by  its  words.  Concilia- 
tion is  known.  The  experience  of  Great  Britain,  the 
United  States,  Canada,  Austraha,  and  New  Zea- 
land, all  point  to  Concihation  and  Mediation  as 
leading  factors  in  the  elimination  of  industrial  strife. 

Investigation,  as  a  method  of  preventing  and  ad- 
justing industrial  disputes,  stands  midway  between 
Conciliation  and  Arbitration.  Though  rightly  re- 
garded as  a  separate  and  distinct  method,  it  is  the 
handmaid  of  the  other  two.  Investigation  goes 
farther  than  Concihation  necessarily  goes,  and  not 
quite  so  far  as  Arbitration.  Conciliation  may  be 
entirely  a  matter  of  conference.  The  injury  com- 
plained of  may  be  more  of  the  feelings  than  of  the 
pocket.  Human  nature  is  as  sensitive  in  matters 
of  self-respect  as  in  matters  of  self-interest.  This 
is  something  of  which  too  careful  account  can- 
not be  taken  in  industrial  relations.  Men  will 
stand  for  short  allowance  when  they  will  not 
stand  for  impudence.  The  trouble  which  incivihty 
brews,  no  matter  from  which  side  it  comes,  is  usu- 
ally much  more  difficult  to  cope  with  than  any  mat- 
ter of  accounts.   It  is  the  all  but  universal  experi- 


210  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ence  of  those  who  have  had  to  do  with  interv^ention 
in  strikes  and  lockouts  that,  in  efTecting  settle- 
ments, the  strictly  economic  questions  involved 
are  not  a  circumstance  to  threats  indulged  in  prior 
to  or  during  industrial  conflicts,  and  the  personal 
bitternesses  and  hatreds  severed  relationships  in- 
variably help  to  engender.  To  take  the  sting  out  of 
opprobrious  epithets,  and  to  cause  insults  to  be 
forgotten  is  the  work  more  of  Concihation  than  of 
Investigation;  though  Investigation,  in  so  far  as 
it  may  help  to  explain  conditions,  and  to  fix  respon- 
sibility, may  also  be  necessary. 

Investigation  is  useful  as  a  method,  and  impera- 
tive where  a  situation  is  intricate,  or  the  numbers 
of  persons  directly  or  indirectly  affected  are  con- 
siderable. Investigation  is  a  letting  in  of  hght.  It 
does  not  attempt  to  award  punishments  or  to  afhx 
blame;  it  aims  simply  at  disclosing  facts.  Its  efTi- 
cacy  hes  in  what  it  presupposes  of  the  power  of 
Truth  to  remedy  evil  of  itself.  Its  use  is  a  high 
tribute  to  human  nature,  for  it  assumes  that  collec- 
tive opinion  will  approve  the  right,  and  condemn 
the  wrong.  Willingness  to  investigate  is  prima  facie 
evidence  of  a  consciousness  of  right.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  refusal  to  per- 
mit investigation  is  equally  prima  facie  evidence  of 
weakness  or  wrong.  So  powerful  is  Investigation 
as  a  means  of  inducing  right  behavior,  that  au- 
thority to  employ  this  method  at  any  or  all  times 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       211 

is  of  itself  protection  against  injustice.  The  statu- 
tory right  to  investigate  disputes,  which  some 
pubhc  boards  enjoy,  has  been  found  sufficient 
to  influence  parties  to  industrial  differences  to 
settle  their  controversies  both  voluntarily  and 
speedily. 

Within  an  industry,  the  right  of  investigation  is 
usually  exercised  in  the  form  of  an  appeal  from  a 
subordinate  to  a  higher  authority.  All  such  rights 
of  appeal  are  guarantees  against  arbitrary  conduct 
and  unfair  dealing.  The  higher  the  right  of  appeal 
may  be  carried,  the  greater  the  safeguard.  To 
make  this  right  effective,  it  should  at  some  point 
lie  wholly  beyond  influence  by  any  of  the  parties  in 
interest. 

There  are  varying  degrees  in  the  extent  to  which 
investigation  has  been  carried  in  practice,  and  in 
the  consequences  attendant  upon  it.  Investigation 
may  be  limited  in  character,  in  place,  and  in  time. 
It  may  extend  only  to  the  right  of  questioning  in- 
dividuals or  of  examining  documents,  or  to  both; 
or  it  may  extend  also  to  an  examination  of  prem- 
ises, to  a  study  of  comparative  conditions,  and  to 
the  securing  of  expert  opinion.  Its  use  may  be 
made  permissible  at  any  time,  or  may  be  restricted, 
for  example,  to  controversies  in  certain  industries 
only,  and  to  a  period  subsequent  to  the  declaration 
of  a  lockout  or  strike.  The  consequences  attendant 


212  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

upon  investigation  vary  according  as  investigation 
is  confined  to  a  simple  disclosure  of  facts,  or  is 
supplemented  by  authority  to  pass  upon  facts,  and 
to  make  findings  and  recommendations.  In  such 
cases,  consequences  also  vary  according  to  the 
binding  force  given  awards. 

It  may  be  left  optional  with  the  parties  affected 
by  investigation  to  accept  or  reject  findings;  or 
acceptance  may  be  made  a  necessary  condition, 
through  voluntary  agreement  by  the  parties,  or  at 
the  instance  of  the  State.  Where  acceptance  of  a 
finding  is  left  optional  with  the  parties  to  a  dispute, 
the  outcome  is  pretty  certain  to  be  influenced  in 
some  measure  by  PubUc  Opinion  and  the  agencies 
which  create  it. 

When  the  right  to  investigate  is  entered  upon 
voluntarily  and  is  accompanied  by  an  agreement 
between  the  parties  to  be  bound  by  the  findings, 
Voluntary  Investigation  becomes  Voluntary  Arbi- 
tration. Where  there  is  no  such  agreement,  but 
where  by  authority  investigation  is  made  compul- 
sory and  acceptance  of  the  findings  of  investigation 
is  made  binding  upon  the  parties,  there  Compulsory 
Investigation  becomes  Compulsory  Arbitration.  In 
other  words.  Voluntary  Arbitration  is  Investiga- 
tion plus  voluntary  agreement  to  be  bound  by  find- 
ings. Compulsory  Arbitration  is  Investigation  plus 
compliance  with  findings  under  penalty. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       213 

Voluntary  Arbitration  is  akin  to  Conciliation  in 
that  it  helps  to  preserve  good-will.  Compulsory 
Arbitration  presents  no  such  guarantee  of  the  at- 
tendance of  good-will.  To  that  extent,  it  falls  short 
of  being  an  ideal  method.  Conciliation  is  an 
informal  process;  Arbitration,  a  formal  process. 
Where  not  compulsory,  Arbitration  generally  fol- 
lows upon  the  signing  of  an  agreement  in  which  both 
parties  bind  themselves  to  carry  out  the  award. 
Formal  hearings  are  held,  testimony  is  taken,  and 
a  written  award  is  made.  Where  Arbitration  is  car- 
ried on  under  sanction  of  law,  the  award  may  be, 
and  generally  is,  legally  binding.  Faith  in  the  im- 
partiahty  and  judgment  of  arbitrators  is  heightened 
where  they  are  chosen  by  mutual  consent;  and 
awards  are  certain  to  be  acted  upon  with  more 
grace  where  acceptance  has  been  mutually  agreed 
upon,  than  where  it  is  imposed  by  force.  The  appli- 
cation of  Force  as  a  means  of  preserving  peace  is,  in 
any  connection,  the  last  of  methods  to  adopt. 

Among  workingmen  there  is  grave  mistrust  of 
Arbitration,  because  of  a  supposed  insidious  class 
interest.  They  feel  that  the  mental  attitude  of  ar- 
bitrators selected  from  other  than  their  own  ranks 
is  apt  to  operate  against  an  impartial  judgment. 
Especially  have  they  a  prejudice  against  the  ju- 
diciary and  "the  legal  mind,"  as  inchned  to  con- 
strue Labor  too  much  as  property.  For  this  reason. 
Arbitration  to  them  savors  of  a  judicial  process 


214  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

which  has  regard  more  for  material  than  for  hu- 
man considerations.  They  object  further  to  Arbi- 
tration because  awards  are  usually  administered 
exclusively  by  the  one  party. 

Here,  then,  as  respects  industrial  peace,  we  ap- 
pear to  be  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma.  To  apply 
Force  in  seeking  to  prevent  and  settle  industrial 
difYerences,  for  that  is  what  the  imposition  of  penal- 
ties implies,  is  to  destroy  the  very  spirit  it  is  de- 
sired to  create  and  maintain,  namely,  confidence 
and  good-will.  On  the  other  hand,  not  to  have  Force 
available  as  a  possible  means  of  compelhng  obe- 
dience to  findings  appears  to  render  investigation 
abortive.  Were  Force  the  only  power  to  be  reUed 
upon  for  the  adoption  of  a  course  of  conduct  ob- 
viously in  the  interests  of  all  parties  to  a  dispute, 
there  would  be  a  dilemma  indeed.  Fortunately,  in 
human  relations  there  is  a  power  superior  even  to 
Force,  and  that  is  Reason.  There  is,  too,  a  vast 
difference  between  Force  apphed  as  a  weapon  of 
aggression,  and  Force  duly  restricted  and  applied 
as  a  restraining  influence  to  serve  social  ends.  If 
Reason  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  merits  of 
a  dispute,  the  result,  humanly  speaking,  is  certain 
to  be  the  best  attainable  under  any  circumstances. 
The  problem  in  Industry,  as  in  all  human  affairs,  is 
to  ensure  the  application  of  Reason  to  situations 
that  admit  of  differences  of  opinion  and  differences 
of  interest. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       215 

Compulsory  Investigation  prior  to  a  severance 
of  relations  between  the  parties  to  a  difference,  and 
accompanied  by  power  to  make  findings,  the  ac- 
ceptance of  which  is  left  optional  with  the  parties, 
appears  to  admit,  in  industrial  disputes,  of  the 
application  of  Reason  to  a  greater  degree  than  is 
afforded  by  any  one  of  the  several  methods  indi- 
vidually apphed.  It  also  occasions  less  in  the  way  of 
apphcation  of  Force.  In  reality  it  is  a  combination 
of  methods,  and  as  such  it  unites  what  is  best  in 
Conciliation,  Investigation,  and  Arbitration,  and 
avoids  limitations  which  are  self-evident  wherever 
they  are  employed  separately. 

Concihation  possesses  the  advantage  of  being 
the  most  acceptable  of  methods  to  all  parties,  and 
the  one  which  more  than  any  other  ensures  the  pro- 
motion of  good-will.  Through  avoiding  undue  in- 
terference and  publicity,  it  leaves  less  to  be  remem- 
bered of  what  is  likely  to  occasion  a  continuance  of 
ill-feeUng  than  either  Investigation  or  Arbitration. 
It  is  more  flexible  than  Arbitration,  less  hampered 
by  precedents,  and  therefore  more  easily  applied  to 
any  set  of  conditions.  But,  like  all  methods,  Con- 
cihation, to  be  of  service,  must  be  afforded  its 
chance.  To  have  interested  parties  brought  into 
conference,  either  in  person  or  through  representa- 
tives, is  an  essential  preliminary  to  the  solution 
of  all  difliculties.  Investigation  prior  to  the  sever- 
ance of  industrial  relations  affords  Concihation  this 


216  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

chance.  Parties  to  differences  are  pretty  sure  to 
welcome  Conciliation  as  an  escape  from  the  pub- 
licity which  investigation  necessarily  brings,  and 
from  the  pressure  of  pubhc  opinion  with  respect 
to  findings  which  may  or  may  not  be  acceptable. 
ConciUation,  employed  before,  rather  than  after, 
the  severance  of  relations,  is  given  a  chance  to  bring 
its  good  offices  into  play  before  the  bitterness,  prej- 
udice, and  passion  which  industrial  warfare  en- 
genders become  aroused.  The  mere  existence  of  a 
regulation  or  law  requiring  investigation  prior  to 
the  actual  severance  of  industrial  relations  may 
wholly  suffice  to  avoid  necessity  for  its  apphcation. 
Its  mere  presence  exerts  a  silent  and  unseen  pres- 
sure which  disposes  affected  parties  favorably  to- 
ward Concihation.  Opportunity  is  thereby  afforded 
ConciUation  to  begin  its  good  works  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances. 

Investigation  possesses  the  advantage  of  being 
the  best  method  of  getting  at  the  truth  of  a  situa- 
tion, and,  in  industrial  relations  as  in  all  else,  Truth 
and  Justice  are  aUied.  To  be  of  service.  Investiga- 
tion, hke  ConciUation,  must  be  employed;  apart 
from  some  kind  of  compelling  influence,  there  is  no 
guarantee  that  it  ever  will  be.  Investigation,  too, 
is  effective  only  when  given  a  real  chance.  As  with 
ConciUation,  the  chances  of  Investigation  are  a 
thousand-fold  improved  where  Investigation  is  ex- 
ercised before,  rather  than_after,  feeUngs  and  preju- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       217 

dices  are  aroused,  and  before  parties  to  disputes 
become  committed  to  positions  which,  pubUcly  as- 
sumed, they  may  wish  to  maintain.  Once  pubUcity 
has  been  given  to  rival  contentions,  parties  are  apt 
to  become  more  sohcitous  of  obtaining  a  verdict 
which  will  justify  their  particular  attitudes  than  of 
finding  a  solution  of  differences  based  upon  essen- 
tial justice. 

Arbitration  possesses  the  advantage  of  finaUty. 
WJiere  acceptable  to  the  parties  and  entered  upon 
voluntarily  prior  to  the  severance  of  industrial  re- 
lations, it  has  all  the  advantages  of  Conciliation 
and  Investigation,  as  it  occasions  the  use  of  both. 
Arbitration,  like  Conciliation  and  Investigation, 
unless  employed  is  of  no  avail;  and  of  the  three 
methods,  Arbitration  is  the  one  the  parties  to 
Industry  are  least  hkely  to  employ  voluntarily. 
Where  there  exists  a  law  compelhng  investigation 
prior  to  the  severance  of  relations,  the  chances  of 
resort  to  voluntary  arbitration  are  increased.  Par- 
ties to  disputes,  while  unwilling  to  arbitrate  every- 
thing, will  not  infrequently  agree  to  refer  debatable 
points  to  the  final  judgment  of  some  third  party,  in 
preference  to  having  all  phases  of  their  relations  in- 
quired into  pubUcly. 

A  disposition  to  sanction  conciliation  and  investi- 
gation, and  to  refer  to  arbitration  what  cannot  be 
satisfactorily  settled,  leaves  httle  to  be  desired.  Un- 
happily, with  human  nature  what  it  is,  there  is  no 


218  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

guarantee  of  an  attitude  of  the  kind  being  assumed 
by  parties  to  industrial  disputes,  save  as  a  means 
oi  escape  from  some  less  acceptable  method  of  set- 
tling their  differences.  The  Arbitration  Courts  in 
the  Austrahan  Commonwealth  and  States,  and  in 
New  Zealand,  make  the  fullest  use  of  Mediation 
before  referring  disputes  to  settlement  by  judi- 
cial process.  Voluntary  agreements  are  secured  be- 
cause disputants  reahze  that  unless  an  agreement 
is  reached  disputes  will  go  automatically  to  the 
Arbitration  Court. ^ 

In  procedure,  Compulsory  Investigation  and 
Compulsory  Arbitration  are  similar;  as  methods  of 
preventing  and  settling  industrial  differences,  they 
differ  as  respects  the  authority  to  be  attached  to 
findings.  The  findings  of  Compulsory  Investiga- 
tion do  not  bind  the  parties.  The  awards  of  Com- 
pulsory Arbitration  are  binding  and  enforceable  by 
process  of  law. 

Investigation  under  compulsion  is  less  satisfac- 
tory than  Investigation  voluntarily  agreed  upon, 
but  it  is  usually  more  acceptable  than  Compulsory 
Arbitration.  The  parties  to  a  difference  know  that 
they  are  not  necessarily  bound  by  the  results  of  the 

*  On  the  subject  of  Mediation,  Investigation,  and  Arbitration  in 
Industrial  Disputes  see  a  volume  of  that  title,  by  Barnett  and  McCabe 
(Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York,  igi6),  and  Industrial  Arbitration,  by  Carl 
H.  Mote  (The  Bobbs-Merrill  Co.,  Indianapolis,  1916);  also  Concilia- 
tion and  Arbitration  in  the  Coal  Industry  of  America,  by  Arthur  E. 
Sulfern  (Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  iqiB). 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       219 

inquiry.  Commitment  in  advance  to  the  accep- 
tance of  the  terms  of  some  unknown  award  pro- 
vokes an  attitude  of  resistance  which  is  distinctly 
inimical  to  efforts  at  conciUation.  To  be  assured 
against  any  prejudice  of  interests  on  account  of 
possible  errors  in  fact  or  opinion  helps  wonderfully 
to  remove  doubt  and  irritation. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  conciliation  is  likely 
to  be  exercised  continuously  during  an  investiga- 
tion enforced  prior  to  the  severance  of  relations 
in  a  dispute,  and  that  the  good  offices  of  Concilia- 
tion cease  once  a  dispute  has  become  the  subject  of 
a  quasi-judicial  reference  under  Compulsory  Arbi- 
tration, the  superior  merits  of  Compulsory  Investi- 
gation as  a  means  of  ensuring  good-will  become  ap- 
parent. Between  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  labor 
controversies  there  are  usually  many  chances  for 
conciliatory  movements  in  the  interest  of  the  par- 
ties and  public  welfare.  The  benefits  of  Compulsory 
Investigation  do  not  he  in  its  coercive  features,  but 
in  the  opportunities  it  guarantees  for  concihation 
at  the  outset,  and  for  continuous  efforts  at  concilia- 
tion throughout  the  entire  course  of  an  investiga- 
tion. When  a  difficulty  arrives  at  a  stage  where 
it  must  be  arbitrated,  it  is  then  usually  too  late  to 
do  much  that  is  effective  in  the  way  of  concihation. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that,  because  findings 
under  Compulsory  Investigation  are  not  enforce- 
able under  penalty,  findings  in  such  cases  are  with- 


220  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

out  effect.  Public  Opinion,  as  an  instrument  of 
authority,  may  be  more  subtle  and  elusive  than 
the  power  of  the  Law  visualized  in  penalties  and 
prisons;  but  the  subtlety  of  Opinion  is  not  without 
its  advantages.  However  much,  as  individuals, 
men  may  feel  compelled  to  tolerate  injustice,  col- 
lectively, it  is  something  they  will  not  abide.  More- 
over, the  reactions  of  deception  are  apt  to  be  vio- 
lent. Barnum  said  the  people  liked  to  be  fooled, 
but  Barnum  was  interested  in  circuses.  Lincoln, 
whose  concern  was  with  government,  said,  "You 
can  fool  a  part  of  the  people  the  whole  tune,  and 
you  can  fool  the  whole  people  a  part  of  the  time, 
but  you  can't  fool  the  whole  people  all  the  time!" 
And  it  is  the  whole  people  in  one  way  or  another 
who  sooner  or  later  are  affected  by  industrial  dis- 
putes in  their  communities. 

As  a  means  of  effecting  the  appHcation  of  Rea- 
son to  industrial  disputes,  Pubhcity  has  merits 
quite  the  equal  of  penalties  imposed  by  process  of 
Law.  Reason  can  be  exercised  properly  only  in  the 
light  of  knowledge.  Through  the  knowledge  of 
facts  it  discloses.  Compulsory  Investigation  cou- 
pled with  Publicity  gives  Reason  its  chance.  Exer- 
cised prior  to  the  severance  of  industrial  relations. 
Compulsory  Investigation  tends  wholly  toward 
the  exercise  of  Reason.  The  estabhshment  of  an 
enlightened  Public  Opinion  is  a  most  important 
problem  of  Government  and  Education. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       221 

No  relationship  in  Industry  is  so  insignificant  that 
the  use  or  neglect  of  ConciUation,  Investigation,  or 
Arbitration  may  not  be  fraught  with  far-reaching 
possibihties  of  good  or  ill.  The  foreman  who  dis- 
misses a  workman  without  examining  his  complaint, 
and  the  worlonan  who  quits  work  just  because  he 
thinks  by  so  doing  an  advantage  can  be  gained  in  a 
crucial  moment,  are  each  fostering  the  spirit  that 
destroys  Faith  and  begets  Fear.  The  Company  that 
refuses  to  consider  grievances  of  its  workmen  when 
such  grievances  are  properly  framed  and  courte- 
ously presented,  and  the  Union  that  brings  on  a 
strike  without  affording  opportunity  for  investiga- 
tion, equally  are  encouraging  methods  of  procedure 
which  lead  to  competitive  arming  between  the 
parties  to  Industry;  and,  if  all  were  perceived,  to 
competitive  arming  between  nations  as  well.  In 
not  less  measure,  the  ofTicial  who  seeks  to  allay  dis- 
cord, and  the  workman  who  encourages  fair  play, 
the  Company  and  the  Union  which  advocate  and 
enforce  methods  of  conciUation,  investigation,  and 
arbitration  in  the  mutual  relations  of  Capital  and 
Labor,  are  promoting  not  only  industrial  peace,  but 
international  peace  as  well. 

There  are  the  strongest  reasons  why  Concilia- 
tion, Investigation,  and  Arbitration,  wherever  they 
can  be  of  service,  should  be  made  to  apply  at  the 
earliest  moment  possible.  The  germ  of  discontent 
is  like  any  other  ^erm:  it  grows  and  reproduces  and 


222  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

multiplies,  and  there  is  no  germ  so  virulent  as  that 
of  unredressed  wrong,  whether  the  wrong  be  real  or 
imaginary.  Indifference  to,  or  neglect  of  wrong  be- 
gets irritation,  and,  like  long-continued  oppression, 
aggravates  discontent  and  causes  men  to  bide  their 
time  and  seek  revenge.  Intimation  by  a  workman 
that  conditions  are  unfavorable  discloses  the  germ 
of  a  grievance.  To  neglect  investigation  or  to  delay 
adjustment  merely  aggravates  the  case.  A  con- 
tinual adjustment  of  httle  things  is  better  than  a 
grand  adjustment  of  many  things  accumulated  over 
a  series  of  years.  The  latter  usually  comes  too  late. 
It  is  not  the  individual  who  has  permitted  or  been 
guilty  of  injustice  who  necessarily  suffers  most;  it 
may  be  the  industry  itself.  To  those  who  experi- 
ence a  sense  of  injustice,  a  guilty  ofTicial  becomes 
the  expression  of  the  indifference  and  heartlessness 
of  owners,  or  of  "the  capitahst  class"  through 
whose  expressed  or  impUed  sanction  injustice  con- 
tinues. There  is  a  significance  impossible  to  ex- 
aggerate in  words  in  the  detection  and  elimination 
of  grievances  in  their  incipient  stages. 


IV 

The  machinery  by  which,  in  Industry  and  the 
State,  it  is  sought  to  give  play  to  the  principles  of 
conciliation,  investigation  and  arbitration,  varies 
from  the  most  informal  arrangements  for  conference 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       223 

between  individuals  to  elaborate  systems  of  judi- 
cial procedure.  It  embraces  means  of  one  kind  or 
another  to  perform  legislative,  executive,  and  judi- 
cial functions.  Such  means  are  necessary  wherever, 
in  the  adjustment  of  human  relations,  an  attempt 
is  made  to  substitute  Reason  for  Force.  Helpful  de- 
vices have  already  been  indicated :  for  example,  the 
framing  and  posting  of  rules  and  regulations  govern- 
ing employment,  and  respecting  living  and  working 
conditions;  provision  of  sources  of  appeal  by  em- 
ployees in  person  or  through  their  representatives; 
and  provision  of  facilities  for  collective  bargaining 
and  the  making  of  joint  trade  agreements. 

Something  in  the  nature  of  continuous  adminis- 
trative machinery  for  the  orderly  disposition  of 
controversies  is  as  necessary  for  the  establishment 
of  law  and  order  in  Industry  as  in  the  State.  There 
is  the  same  need  for  the  definition  of  rights  and 
obhgations,  the  formulation  and  interpretation  of 
rules,  and  authoritative  decision  in  matters  of  con- 
troversy. In  the  State,  procedure  as  respects  all 
these  particulars  has  been  vastly  elaborated.  In 
Industry,  it  is  at  the  beginning  of  its  evolution. 

The  machinery  of  justice  in  the  State  is  the  prod- 
uct of  centuries  of  development.  Though  judicial 
procedure  may  continue  to  change,  the  really  im- 
portant fact  is  that  justice  in  the  form  of  Law,  as 
distinguished  from  arbitrary  justice,  or  from  pri- 
vate struggle  decided  by  private  force,  arises  the 


224  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

moment  general  principles  are  used  for  deciding  par- 
ticular cases.^ 

The  application  of  general  principles  to  the  de- 
termination of  controversies  has  led  to  the  gradual 
enlargement  of  the  field  of  systematic  justice,  and 
to  the  inclusion  of  whole  classes  of  questions  not 
hitherto  regarded  as  coming  within  its  purview. 
The  classes  of  questions  decided  by  the  Interstate 
Conomerce  Commission  in  the  United  States,  and 
by  the  Board  of  Railway  Commissioners  in  Can- 
ada, are  instances  in  point.  The  decisions  of  these 
bodies  are  in  the  nature  of  the  application  of  more 
or  less  general  principles  to  particular  controversies. 
If  Reason  is  to  supplant  Force  in  human  relations, 
all  industrial  and  international  controversies  must 
some  day  be  similarly  decided. 

A  beginning  in  the  extension  of  the  field  of  syste- 
matic justice  to  industrial  relations  has  been  made 
in  the  United  States  through  the  adoption  of  cer- 
tain principles  and  pohcies  to  govern  relations  be- 
tween workers  and  employers  in  war  industries  for 
the  duration  of  the  War. 

In  January,  1918,  the  Secretary  of  Labor  ap- 
pointed a  War  Labor  Conference  Board  for  the 
purpose  of  devising  for  the  period  of  the  War  a 
method  of  labor  adjustment  which  would  be  ac- 
ceptable to  employers  and  employees.  The  Board 

1  Vide  "  A  New  Field  for  Systematic  Justice,"  by  J.  H.  W.,  Illinois 
Law  Review,  March,  1916. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       225 

recommended  the  creation  of  a  National  War  La- 
bor Board.  This  Board  was  subsequently  appointed 
by  proclamation  of  the  President  with  powers, 
functions,  and  duties  duly  defined.  The  Board 
was  to  settle  by  mediation  and  conciHation  con- 
troversies arising  between  employers  and  workers 
in  fields  of  production  necessary  for  the  effective 
conduct  of  the  War,  or  in  other  fields  of  national 
activity,  delays  and  obstructions  in  which  might 
affect  detrimentally  such  production.  It  was  to 
provide  for  committees  or  boards  to  sit  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  where  controversies  might 
arise,  and  secure  settlement  by  local  mediation  and 
conciliation ;  and  to  summon  the  parties  to  contro- 
versies for  hearing  and  action  by  the  National 
Board  in  the  event  of  failure  to  secure  settlement 
by  mediation  and  concihation. 

It  was  further  provided  that  when  the  Board, 
after  due  effort  of  its  own,  found  it  impossible  to 
settle  a  controversy,  it  should  then  sit  as  a  board 
of  arbitration,  decide  the  controversy,  and  make 
an  award,  if  it  could  reach  a  unanimous  conclu- 
sion. If  it  could  not  do  this,  then  it  was  to  select 
an  umpire,  who  should  sit  with  the  Board,  review 
the  issues,  and  render  his  award.  The  selection  of 
an  umpire  was  to  be  by  unanimous  vote  of  the 
Board.  Failing  such  choice,  the  name  of  the  um- 
pire was  to  be  drawn  by  lot  from  a  list  of  ten  suit- 
able and  disinterested  persons  to  be  nominated  for 


226  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  purpose  by  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
An  important  provision,  intended  evidently  to  pre- 
vent unnecessary  inter\^ention  and  to  encourage 
the  parties  to  Industry  to  settle  their  difTerences 
themselves  in  accordance  with  established  methods 
of  procedure  voluntarily  agreed  upon,  is  that  the 
National  Board  shall  refuse  to  take  cognizance  of  a 
controversy  between  employer  and  workers  in  any 
field  of  industrial  or  other  activity  where  there  is 
by  agreement  or  Federal  law  a  means  of  settlement 
which  has  not  been  invoked.  The  principles  to  be 
observed  and  the  methods  to  be  followed  by  the 
National  Board  in  exercising  its  powers  and  func- 
tions and  performing  its  duties  are  mentioned  as 
those  specified  in  the  report  of  the  War  Labor  Con- 
ference Board  dated  March  29,  1918. 

Here  is  the  beginning  of  justice  in  the  form  of 
law  made  applicable  to  industrial  controversies. 
A  method  of  judicial  procedure  is  outhned,  and 
principles  to  govern  relations  between  workers  and 
employers  are  set  forth.  It  is  true  that,  for  the  pres- 
ent, they  apply  only  to  war  industries  and  for  the 
duration  of  the  War.  It  is  hardly  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  settlement  of  industrial  controversies 
in  accordance  with  juridical  methods,  commenced 
on  a  nation-wide  scale  during  the  War,  will  be 
abandoned  at  its  close.  Rather  would  it  appear,  if 
Reason  is  to  be  substituted  for  Force,  that  some 
such  method  will  more  than  ever  be  necessary  in 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       227 

the  readjustments  in  Industry  which  are  certain 
to  occasion  the  most  serious  of  all  problems  in  the 
period  of  reconstruction. 

The  collective  contracts  between  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  and  Organized  Labor, 
in  many  fields  of  industrial  activity  pertaining  to 
war  work,  mark  a  revolutionary  change  in  official 
policy.^  There  is  scarcely  a  branch  of  Industry 
of  any  importance  in  relation  to  war  work  where 
some  effort  has  not  been  made  to  estabhsh,  by  di- 
rect deahng  with  national  and  local  labor  leaders, 
collective  contracts  which  may  serve  to  ensure 
continuous  employment,  and  to  provide  machinery 
for  taking  up,  in  orderly  fashion,  with  the  Govern- 
ment and  with  private  employers,  whatever  differ- 
ences may  arise. 

It  is  too  early  to  pronounce  judgment  upon  the 
manner  in  which  the  Government's  pohcy  is  being 
carried  out,  or  upon  the  effectiveness  of  the  meth- 
ods themselves.  Their  existence  as  a  part  of  war 
pohcy  intended  to  further  production  in  a  world 
emergency  is  always  to  be  remembered.  Any  pol- 
icy, however,  which  honestly  seeks  to  substitute 
juridical  methods  of  procedure  in  the  adjustment 
of  industrial  controversy  for  the  method  of  Force, 
is  deserving  of  sympathetic  appreciation.  Its  very 
limitations  and  errors  will  help  to  disclose  what  is 

^  Vide  "The  New  Place  of  Labor,"  by  Ordway  Tead,  the  Atlantic 
Monthly,  August,  1918,  p.  i38. 


228  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

essential  and  necessary  in  the  application  to  Indus- 
try of  practices  and  procedure  which  in  all  organ- 
ized communities  have  been  the  means  of  substi- 
tuting law  and  order  for  anarchy. 

The  Government  of  Canada  has  sought,  through 
an  enlargement  of  the  machinery  provided  by  the 
Canadian  Industrial  Disputes  Investigation  Act, 
and  by  the  encouragement  of  Joint  Boards  of  Adjust- 
ment, to  secure  the  apphcation  of  general  policies 
and  principles  to  the  settlement  of  controversies 
arising  in  war  industries  in  Canada.  Here,  too,  a 
further  extension  may  be  looked  for  when  the  War 
is  over. 

In  Great  Britain,  before  the  War  commenced, 
prominence  had  been  given  the  importance  of  the 
apphcation  of  general  principles  in  the  prevention 
and  settlement  of  industrial  controversies.  The 
War  has  developed  machinery  much  needed  for  a 
wide  apphcation. 

How  fortunate  it  would  be  were  the  War  to  mark 
the  transition  to  a  general  acceptance  of  orderly 
and  judicial  methods  of  procedure  in  the  settlement 
of  all  differences;  and  were  present  upheavals  to 
prove  to  be  the  birth-pains  of  a  new  order!  With- 
out law  there  can  be  no  peace. 

The  recognition  of  the  importance  of  principles 
as  the  basis  of  all  law  and  order  has  found  frequent 
and  distinguished  expression  in  ofTicial  utterances 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       229 

pertaining  to  the  War,  and  with'respect  to  negoti- 
ations necessarily  preliminary  to  any  peace. 

Appearing  before  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  at 
Washington  on  February  11,  1918,  President  Wil- 
son said :  "What  is  at  stake  now  is  the  peace  of  the 
world.  What  we  are  striving  for  is  a  new  interna- 
tional order  based  upon  broad  and  universal  princi- 
ples of  right  and  justice."^  The  President  then  out- 
lined principles  to  be  applied,  which  he  said  would 
serve  to  test  whether  it  was  of  any  avail  to  go  on  at 
that  time  exchanging  peace  views.  It  is  deserving 
of  note  that  the  principles  Mr.  Wilson  enumerated 
laid  emphasis  upon  human  as  distinguished  from 
material  considerations.  Peoples  and  provinces 
were  not  to  be  bartered  about  like  chattels  to 
establish  a  balance  of  powers.  Territorial  settle- 
ments were  to  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  con- 
cerned, and  not  merely  adjustments  of  the  claims 
of  rival  states. 

Addressing  a  joint  session  of  the  House  of  Lords 
and  the  House  of  Commons  in  London  on  the  day 
following,  King  George  declared  that  until  there 
was  recognition  of  the  basic  principles  upon  which  an 
honorable  peace  could  be  concluded,  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  British  to  prosecute  the  War  with  all  the 
vigor  they  possessed.  In  whatever  overtures  pre- 
cede peace  negotiations,  the  significance  of  the  un- 
reserved acceptance  of  basic  principles  is  certain  to 
receive  heightened  emphasis. 


230  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

The  recognition  of  just  principles  as  a  basis  of 
law  and  order  is  quite  as  imperative  in  small 
things  as  it  is  in  great.  Where  there  are  no  gen- 
eral principles  to  lay  hold  of,  where  everything  is 
arbitrary,  there  can  be  no  attempt  at  peaceful  set- 
tlement of  controversy,  whether  it  be  industrial  or 
international.  Industrial  Law  and  International 
Law  are  in  much  the  same  position  to-day :  princi- 
ples in  the  case  of  each  are  insufficiently  defined, 
and  the  means  of  their  enforcement  are  inadequate. 
As  a  consequence,  the  very  foundations  of  civiliza- 
tion are  threatened  by  international  warfare  on 
the  one  hand,  and  by  industrial  warfare  on  the 
other.  Until  industrial  controversy  and  interna- 
tional controversy  become  as  justiciable  as  prop- 
erty controversy,  the  world's  peace  will  be  at  the 
mercy  of  Force,  from  whatever  quarter  it  may 
arise. 

It  is  from  just  such  small  beginnings  as  are 
afforded  by  opportunities  of  conference  and  the 
methods  of  procedure  mentioned,  that  there  will 
gradually  be  evolved  a  system  of  justice  as  applica- 
ble to  human  rights  in  Industry,  as  existing  legal 
justice  is  to  property  rights  and  matters  of  con- 
tract. Here  and  there,  through  agencies  already  at 
work,  principles  are  beginning  to  be  formulated. 
As  the  system  is  extended,  and  enlarged  by  experi- 
ence, general  principles  with  their  necessary  qual- 
ifications will  become  clearer  and  more  widely  ac- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  PEACE       231 

cepted.  The  sanction  of  government  in  one  form 
or  another  will  be  secured.  Principles  will  then 
become  established,  and  their  apphcation  will  be 
made  more  and  more  general. 

Professor  Earl  Dean  Howard,^  formerly  Direc- 
tor of  Labor  for  the  manufacturing  firm  of  Hart, 
SchafTner  and  Marx,  a  Chicago  firm  which  has  done 
much  in  formulating  and  applying  wise  principles 
in  Industry,  has  written  of  this  evolution  with  fine 
discernment:  "The  student  of  political  science," 
Professor  Howard  says,  "will  find  in  the  devel- 
opment of  voluntary  industrial  government  an  in- 
teresting contribution  to  his  science.  Just  as  the 
common  law  of  England  evolved  from  self-imposed 
customs  and  regulations  in  the  interest  of  harmoni- 
ous dealings  and  relations,  so  here  we  may  observe 
an  organic  growth  of  industrial  government,  estab- 
lishing itself  alongside  the  federal  and  state  juris- 
dictions. Perhaps  this  will  be  the  means  of  escape 
from  the  dilemma  of  domination  by  a  ruling  over  a 
subject  class  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  a 
chronic  state  of  civil  warfare  with  the  classes  per- 
petually struggling  for  advantage,  with  small  con- 
sideration for  the  pubUc  welfare." 

The  prejudice  of  Labor  against  legal  methods 
in  the  settlement  of  disputes  will  vanish  as  the 
principles  revealed  in  the  settlement  of  industrial 

^  At  present,  Secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Industrial  Relations 
recently  formed  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States. 


232  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

dilYerences  by  conciliation,  investigation,  and  arbi- 
tration accord  with  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and 
Health.  In  other  words.  Labor's  prejudice  will  dis- 
appear as  the  emphasis  in  principles  cited  is  placed 
upon  human  as  contrasted  with  material  consider- 
ations. Were  resort  to  these  agencies  to  become 
general,  such  emphasis  would  be  inevitable.  Out  of 
the  principles  thus  estabhshed,  it  should  be  pos- 
sible to  construct  for  Industry  a  code  of  governing 
rules  and  regulations  which  would  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  permanent  industrial  peace.  To  attain  an 
end  so  considerable,  there  are  the  strongest  of  rea- 
sons why  employers  and  employees  should  seek  to 
avail  themselves  voluntarily  of  methods  of  judi- 
cial procedure  in  the  settlement  of  industrial  con- 
troversies whenever  occasion  permits,  and  why  the 
State  should  exert  its  supreme  authority  to  compel 
such  a  reference  whenever  industrial  controversy 
threatens  the  pubUc  interest. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK 

Fear  and  Faith  are  as  infallible  in  their  efTects 
upon  Work  as  in  their  bearing  upon  Peace.  They 
lie  about  the  roots  of  both,  sapping  or  nourishing 
vitality.  Work  is  inseparable  from  hfe;  it  is  life 
expressing  itself  in  effort.  In  all  its  aspects,  Work 
denotes  effort,  physical,  mental,  or  moral.  Fear 
paralyzes  effort;  Faith  sustains  it.  Ahke  in  in- 
dustrial and  international  relations,  and  whether 
applied  to  individuals  or  to  communities,  the  prin- 
ciples which  underlie  Work  are  those  rules  of  con- 
duct and  methods  of  organization  which,  through 
the  elimination  of  Fear  and  the  estabhshment  of 
Faith,  beget  a  sense  of  freedom  in  effort  between 
human  beings  and  their  personal  and  material  en- 
vironments. 

Like  the  principles  underlying  Peace,  the  prin- 
ciples which  underlie  Work  are  founded  upon  a 
recognition  of  personality.  They  evidence  discern- 
ment between  human  and  material  values.  They 
are  expressive  of  an  attitude  of  behef  in  common  as 
contrasted  with  opposed  interests.  They  reveal  a 
spirit  of  mutual  consideration  and  constructive 
good-will.  Rules  of  conduct  and  methods  of  organ- 
ization, whilst  they  can  effect  none  of  these  things, 


234  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

may  contribute  in  a  very  direct  way  toward  their 
realization.  Of  themselves,  they  are  mere  insensate 
cords,  resembling  somewhat  the  nerves  of  the  hu- 
man system.  Under  right  direction,  they  carn^  im- 
pressions to  and  fro  to  beneficent  ends.  But  it  is 
the  spirit  alone  which  imparts  vitality  and  force. 


In  Industry  the  immediate  objective  of  Work 
is  material  production.  The  common  aim  of  the 
parties  to  Industry  is  to  bring  production  to  a 
maximum  in  quantity  and  quality.  This,  as  al- 
ready shown,  is,  first  and  foremost,  a  matter  of  co- 
operation between  the  parties,  and  of  intelhgent 
co-ordination  of  various  functions.  Such  co-oper- 
ation and  co-ordination  is  possible  only  where  there 
is  accord  with  an  underlying  order  which  presup- 
poses between  individuals,  not  a  conflict,  but  a 
community  of  interests  in  all  that  pertains  to  hu- 
man well-being.  In  no  more  effective  way  can  the 
parties  to  Industry  advance  the  common  interest 
than  by  each  performing  its  special  function  to  the 
utmost  of  its  capacity.  For  a  maximum  of  com- 
bined effort,  there  must  be  a  maximum  of  individ- 
ual effort.  The  principles  underlying  Work  reveal 
how  individual  effort  may  be  brought  to  its  highest 
degree  of  efficiency. 

In  the  processes  of  Industry,  the  unwilhngness  of 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        235 

individual  parties  to  put  forth  their  utmost  effort 
may  arise  from  defects  of  character,  inadequacy 
of  training,  or  lack  of  opportunity.  Where  oppor- 
tunity, training,  and  capacity  are  present,  failure 
to  realize  the  best  in  effort  arises  mostly  from  the 
fear  that  one  or  other  of  the  parties  will  put  forth  a 
less  than  proportionate  share  of  effort,  or  claim  a 
more  than  proportionate  share  of  reward.^  In  other 
words,  restricted  effort  in  production  arises  from 
fears  respecting  the  contribution  each  of  the  par- 
ties makes,  or  concerning  the  share  w^hich  each  of 
the  parties  takes.  Both  are  embraced  in  the  fear 
that  rew^ards  will  not  be  adequate  or  proportionate 
to  the  effort  put  forth.  Whatever  restricts  effort 
through  fear  of  inadequate  returns  on  the  part  of 
one  or  more  of  the  parties  to  Industry,  or  through 
any  other  cause,  limits  opportunity  and  reward  to 
all. 

The  fears  which  circumscribe  the  freedom  of  effort 
of  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Community  are 
by  no  means  so  real  or  considerable  as  those  which 
surround  Labor.  They  differ,  also,  in  that  they 
represent  consequences  much  less  serious  to  hu- 
man hfe.  Especially  is  this  true  of  fears  concerning 
employment.  Under  conditions  in  Industry  which 

*  Vide  Sidney  Webb,  The  Eestoration  of  Trade  Union  Conditions 
(The  Gresham  Press,  England;  B.  W.  Huebsch,  New  York,  1917), 
reference  to  which  source  is  hereby  acknowledged. 


236  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

make  the  several  parts  of  industrial  processes  de- 
pendent on  many  others,  and  which  demand  in- 
tense speciahzation  of  effort,  it  is  impossible  to 
exaggerate  the  imminence  of  fear  in  the  lives  of 
workers  wholly  dependent  upon  continuous  em- 
ployment for  the  immediate  necessaries  of  life. 

Capital  can  wait  for  its  reward.  If  the  worst 
comes  to  the  worst,  the  mere  possession  of  capital 
is  of  itself  in  the  nature  of  insurance  against  perils 
which  threaten  Labor  whenever  confronted  by 
uncertainty  of  employment,  or  actual  unemploy- 
ment. Moreover,  the  capitalist  is  at  once  a  capi- 
talist and  a  potential  laborer.  Only  under  excep- 
tional conditions,  is  the  laborer  ever  a  potential 
capitahst.  The  so-called  leisure  classes,  deprived 
of  capital,  feel  the  hardship  of  having  "to  earn  a 
living."  After  all,  in  such  cases  they  but  experience 
the  lot  of  the  average  worker  who  is  expected  to  be 
happy  so  long  as  he  has  opportunity  to  work.  Cap- 
ital, moreover,  is  free  to  move  about.  If  not  re- 
quired in  a  particular  locality  or  business,  it  readily 
finds  investment  in  some  other  place  or  enterprise. 
Labor  is  not  so  mobile.  It  is  confined  in  a  thousand 
and  one  ways.  It  is  necessarily  largely  restricted  to 
occupations  to  which  it  has  been  trained.  It  is  more 
or  less  rooted  to  localities  which  speak  of  home  and 
its  associations.  It  is  largely  ignorant  of  the  world 
without.  Capital  is  a  citizen  of  the  world,  with  no 
definite  occupation  or  home.   It  suffers  little  from 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        237 

fears  of  isolated  position,  substitution,  dismissal, 
arbitrary  and  unjust  treatment.  Such  risks  as  it 
runs  are  very  largely  its  own.  How  vastly  differ- 
ent is  life  to  its  possessor  under  such  circumstances  I 

It  is  the  fear  of  unemployment  which  lies  at  the 
root  of  most  of  the  minor  fears  which  Labor  enter- 
tains. The  fear  of  unemployment  is  in  reality  the 
fear  on  the  part  of  Labor  that  capital  will  not  be 
provided  to  carry  on  industry  continuously,  and 
under  conditions  which  will  afford  adequate  re- 
muneration to  effort.  It  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  fal- 
lacy that  quantity  of  work  is  necessarily  limited. 
This  fear  gives  rise  to  the  fear  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  machinery,  or  the  increased  use  of  ma- 
chinery already  installed,  will  displace  labor;  the 
fear  that  speeding-up  processes  will  diminish  work; 
the  fear  that  female,  child,  unskilled,  or  imported 
labor  will  be  substituted  for  skilled;  the  fear  that 
men  of  one  trade  will  encroach  upon  the  work  for 
which  men  of  other  trades  have  been  specially 
trained ;  the  fear  that  the  number  of  apprentices 
will  be  so  increased  as  to  lessen  the  requirement 
for  skilled  hands;  and  the  fear  that  long  hours  and 
continuous  overtime  will  exhaust  employment. 

AUied  to  the  fear  of  unemployment  is  a  class  of 
fears  which,  as  seen,  have  a  special  bearing  on 
industrial  peace:  the  fear  of  discharge  and  of  un- 
fair treatment  through  the  utter  helplessness  of 
the  isolated  worlonan  in  relation  to  the  capitahst 


238  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY  ] 

employer,  and,  still  more,  in  relation  to  a  powerful 
corporation ;  the  fear  of  lockouts  or  arbitrary  exac- 
tions, and  the  many  fears  incidental  to  tyrannical 
and  capricious  behavior  on  the  part  of  those  in 
authority,  and  especially  of  subordinate  officials  to- 
ward workers  under  their  direction.  This  fear  ex- 
tends to  the  power  of  wealth  to  defeat  the  ends  of 
justice,  by  corrupting  officials  and  influencing  or 
controUing  the  judiciary  and  legislatures,  and  to 
the  influence  also  of  a  class  interest  and  sentiment 
on  the  part  of  the  monied  classes  as  distinguished 
from  the  working  classes.  With  it  are  allied  the 
many  fears  which  have  a  special  bearing  on  health 
in  Industry:  fears,  for  example,  of  physical  injury 
and  ill-health,  and  of  inadequacy  of  compensation 
or  redress  when  injury  is  done. 

Arising  from  the  worker's  sense  of  utter  helpless- 
ness is  also  the  fear,  apart  from  combination,  of 
the  absence  of  any  voice  in  determining  the  con- 
tract on  which  services  are  given,  and  the  fear,  in 
consequence,  of  unfair  terms  in  bargaining  and  in 
determining  the  rate  of  remuneration,  the  hours  of 
labor,  and  working  conditions.  This  extends  to  the 
fear  of  reductions  in  standards  already  gained;  the 
fear  of  individual  or  general  reductions  in  wages,  of 
increase  in  hours,  of  change  in  customary  practices; 
the  fear  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  employers  to 
combination;  and  the  fear  of  methods  intended  to 
destroy  or  weaken  organization.  Whatever  begets 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        239 

fear  of  opposition  to  organization  helps  to  inten- 
sify other  fears. 

Beset  by  fears  at  once  so  numerous  and  con- 
stant, it  must  be  apparent  that  Labor  is  in  no  way 
capable  of  putting  forth  effort  to  the  utmost  of  its 
capacity.  Where  the  mind  is  in  a  state  of  unrest, 
the  arm  is  divested  of  some  of  its  power,  and  the 
hand  of  some  of  its  skill.  Time  which  otherwise 
might  be  freely  employed  in  furthering  production, 
with  benefit  in  opportunity  and  reward  to  all  the 
parties  to  Industry,  is  consumed  in  effecting  or- 
ganization against  ills  that  are  feared,  or  in  agi- 
tation concerning  their  existence.  It  is  impossible 
to  estimate  the  waste  to  Industry  from  the  para- 
lyzing effect  of  fear  upon  Labor.  Were  this  paraly- 
sis removed,  the  output  of  Industry  would  multiply 
manifold.  And  how  considerable  would  be  the  gain 
to  each  of  the  parties!  Labor,  assured  of  all  but  un- 
limited opportunity  of  employment,  and  of  just  re- 
ward of  effort,  would  immediately  become  possessed 
of  the  zeal  which  makes  for  highest  efficiency.  Capi- 
tal would  cease  to  lack  opportunities  of  profitable  in- 
vestment. Management  would  find  itself  restricted 
only  by  its  own  incapacity.  To  the  Community, 
commodities  and  services  would  become  available 
on  a  scale  and  at  a  price  hitherto  unknown. 

Whilst  less  serious  in  their  immediate  personal 
consequences  than  the  fears  which  Labor  endures 


240  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

at  the  instance  of  Capital,  the  fears  which  Capital 
experiences  at  the  instance  of  Labor  are  by  no 
means  inconsiderable  or  unreal.  What  these  fears 
are  is  well  known;  they  have  received  heightened 
emphasis  under  the  stress  of  war.  The  source  of  all 
is  the  fear  that  Labor  will  not  be  provided  in  quan- 
tity and  quality  sufficient  to  carry  on  Industry  con- 
tinuously, and  under  conditions  which  will  aflord 
adequate  remuneration  to  investment.  Foremost 
is  the  fear  of  strikes,  and  their  consequences.  If 
Labor  refuses  to  work.  Capital  and  Management 
hkewise  become  idle,  unless  transferred  to  other  in- 
dustries. Transfer,  however,  is  not  always  possi- 
ble. Capital  invested  in  Industry  is  partly  "fixed" 
in  plant  and  equipment;  and  markets,  as  well  as 
Labor,  have  to  be  found  for  the  output  of  new 
enterprises.  Management,  too,  becomes  identified 
with  particular  classes  of  business,  and  new  open- 
ings are  not  always  at  hand. 

The  fear  of  strikes  would  be  minimized  were  ac- 
tual or  threatened  resort  to  strikes  postponed  until 
other  available  means  of  securing  redress  were 
exhausted.  Unfortunately,  strikes  are  sometimes 
brought  on  where  no  grievances  whatever  exist. 
The  cause  of  the  so-called  "sympathetic  strike'* 
may  lie  wholly  beyond  the  control  of  the  trade  or 
industry  affected.  Because  of  uncertainty  on  so 
many  grounds,  the  possibihty  of  strikes  has  become 
an  ever-present  fear. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        241 

Allied  to  the  fear  of  strikes  is  the  fear  of  labor 
combination,  and  its  attempts  to  control  the  la- 
bor market,  and  to  restrict  output.  This  fear  has 
greatly  increased  with  the  augmentation  of  Labor's 
power  consequent  upon  extensive  organization 
and  the  growth  of  class  consciousness.  In  Great 
Britain,  at  the  commencement  of  the  War,  many 
of  the  fears  which  occasion  strikes  found  expres- 
sion in  a  network  of  restrictions  and  regulations 
which  the  trades  unions,  in  the  years  preceding, 
had  succeeded  in  weaving  about  Industry.  The 
nation,  in  its  effort  to  increase  production,  found 
it  desirable  to  suspend  these  restrictions,  and  se- 
cured the  patriotic  co-operation  of  Labor  to  this 
end.  The  obnoxious  restrictions  were  all  in  the  na- 
ture of  limitations  upon  the  freedom  of  initiative 
and  power  of  direction,  usually  of  the  employer, 
but  sometimes  also  of  the  workman.  Briefly  classi- 
fied, restrictions  of  the  kind  include  such  practices 
as  hampering  the  installation  of  the  best  machin- 
ery, or  the  speed  at  which  it  is  worked ;  prevent- 
ing the  introduction  of  new  processes;  limiting  the 
freedom  to  engage,  or  to  promote,  or  to  put  at  any 
kind  of  work,  any  workman,  irrespective  of  train- 
ing, age,  or  sex.  Among  such  restrictions  are  also 
to  be  included  the  hmitation  in  numbers  of  ap- 
prentices; the  insistence  on  trade  unionism  and  em- 
ployment of  union  labor  to  the  exclusion  of  any 
other;  the  demarcation  of  employment;  the  require- 


242  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ment  of  a  minimum  wage;  the  objection  to  systems 
of  remuneration  by  piece  work  or  bonus  systems; 
and  restrictions  in  hours  of  work,  and  the  prohi- 
bition of  overtime. 

Analogous  to  the  class  of  fears  begotten  of  labor 
control  and  restricted  output,  are  the  fears  that 
"  discipUne,"  as  it  is  termed,  will  be  interfered  with; 
that  employers  will  not  be  free  to  dispense  with  the 
services  of  undesirable,  incompetent,  or  unneces- 
sary workmen  without  risking  a  cessation  of  work; 
and  that  disputes  cannot  be  adjusted  except  in 
accordance  with  methods  prescribed  by  organiza- 
tions to  which  workmen  belong. 

The  fear  that  Labor  can  be  secured,  so  to  speak, 
only  on  its  own  terms,  which  may  involve  exorbi- 
tant demands  as  respects  hours,  wages,  and  work- 
ing conditions,  is  supplemented  by  the  fear  that 
even  where  a  contract  is  entered  into,  with  precise 
stipulations,  its  provisions  may  not  be  lived  up  to. 
There  is  the  fear  also  that  one  concession  may  be 
used  to  force  another,  and  that  arbitrary  exactions 
of  many  kinds  may  be  attempted.  Demands  for 
recognition  of  the  union,  for  the  "closed  shop,"  and 
for  compulsory  use  of  the  union  label  are  not  in- 
frequently cases  in  point. 

Finally,  there  is  the  class  of  fears  associated 
with  extreme  measures,  with  revolutionary  move- 
ments, and  with  violence,  as,  for  example,  the 
boycott,  sabotage,  revolutionary  sociaUsm,  revolu- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        243 

tionary  syndicalism,  the  I.W.W.'s,  and  all  forms 
of  anarchy. 

An  employers'  publication  in  America  called 
*'The  Square  Deal"  has  the  following  as  its  "plat- 
form of  principles":  "No  closed  shop;  no  restric- 
tion as  to  the  use  of  tools,  machinery  or  output,  ex- 
cept such  as  are  unsafe;  no  limitation  of  output; 
no  restriction  as  to  number  of  apprentices  and 
helpers  when  of  proper  age;  no  boycott;  no  sym- 
pathetic strike;  no  sacrifice  of  independent  work- 
ingmen  to  labor  union;  no  compulsory  use  of  union 
label."  The  negative  expressed  in  each  plank  of 
this  platform  indicates  some  fear  which  Capital  is 
constantly  experiencing  at  the  instance  of  Labor, 
and  wliich,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  discourages 
investment  in  Industry.  Naturally,  where  there  is 
dread  of  the  kind  which  such  fears  engender,  pos- 
sessors of  capital,  as  well  as  industrial  managers, 
think  twice  before  risking  loss  or  impairment  of  sav- 
ings, or  taking  a  chance  of  inadequate  returns  upon 
investment.  The  widespread  existence  of  these 
fears  causes  investors  to  look  about  for  fields  in 
which  dangers  of  the  kind  are  least  likely  to  be  en- 
countered. Not  infrequently  capital  is  permitted 
to  lie  idle  in  the  hope  that  the  shortsightedness  of 
mistaken  policies  may  come  to  be  recognized. 

It  must  never  be  forgotten  that,  while  capital, 
itself,  is  in  the  nature  of  material  substance,  the 
capitahst  is  always  a  human  being.  While  capital 


244  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

embraces  raw  materials,  plants  and  their  equip- 
ments, machines,  tools  and  apphances,  warehouses, 
food,  clothing,  shelter,  and  other  substances,  in- 
cluding money,  one  and  all  are  owned  or  controlled 
by  persons  upon  whose  say  depends  whether  or  not 
they  shall  be  made  available  for  purposes  of  Indus- 
try. In  proportion  as  the  use  of  capital  brings  with 
it  a  return  in  value  greater  than  the  value  impaired 
or  destroyed  through  use,  there  will  be  safe  and 
profitable  investment.  The  willingness  of  owners 
or  their  representatives  to  part  with  principal  and 
interest  is  increased  as  reward  is  certain  and  con- 
siderable. It  lessens  as  the  certainty  and  amount  of 
reward  diminishes.  It  disappears  altogether  where, 
instead  of  reward,  there  is  certainty  or  even  proba- 
bility of  loss. 

If  it  is  to  be  assumed  that,  but  for  the  fears  en- 
tertained by  Labor  of  Capital,  the  output  of  Indus- 
try would  be  many  times  increased,  it  is  equally 
reasonable  to  believe  that  corresponding  increase 
in  production  would  speedily  result  from  the  elimi- 
nation of  the  fears  entertained  by  Capital  of  Labor. 
It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the  loss  to  Labor, 
to  Capital,  to  Management,  and  to  the  Commu- 
nity through  non-investment  by  Capital  in  Industry 
can  never  be  known.  Were  it  possible  to  eliminate 
the  many  fears  outlined,  the  owners  of  capital 
would  enjoy  perfect  freedom  in  investing  their  sav- 
ings and  accumulations  in  Industry.  The  amount 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        245 

of  capital  thus  available  for  investment  would  ma- 
terially increase.  Labor  would  profit  through  in- 
crease in  employment  and  by  the  larger  production 
from  which  its  efforts  are  rewarded.  Though  the 
rate  of  return  might  be  lowered.  Capital  would 
profit  through  the  larger  opportunity  of  investment, 
the  lessening  of  risk,  and  the  increased  certainty 
and  amount  of  reward.  Management  would  profit 
through  the  wider  scope  afforded  directing  and 
organizing  capacity.  And  with  additional  gain 
to  each  of  the  contributing  parties  as  consumers, 
the  Community  would  profit  through  increase  in 
number  and  variety  of  available  commodities  and 
services,  as  well  as  by  a  lowering  in  price  made 
possible  through  the  economies  of  efficiency  and 
full-scale  production. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  as  Capital's  fears  of 
Labor  diminish,  there  appears  to  be  corresponding 
diminution  in  the  fears  by  Labor  of  Capital,  and 
vice  versa.  Remove  all  hkelihood  of  strikes  or  at- 
tempts at  restriction  of  output,  and  immediately 
the  stimulus  to  investment  of  Capital  is  increased, 
with  corresponding  increase  in  Labor's  opportunity 
of  employment  and  reward.  Similarly,  remove  the 
fear  of  unjust  exactions  by  Management  and  Capi- 
tal, and  of  a  reduction  in  remuneration  where  effort 
is  increased,  and  immediately  fresh  stores  of  en- 
ergy are  released  by  Labor,  with  certainty  of  gain  to 
investment.  The  reaction  of  Faith  is  akin  to  that 


246  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

of  Fear,  in  that  each  tends  to  foster  its  hke.  Faith 
inspires  Faith,  and  Fear  breeds  Fear. 

Labor  and  Capital  may  both  suffer  from  fears 
which  Management  or  the  Community  occasions. 
Whatever  produces  lack  of  confidence  in  persons 
who  have  to  do  with  industrial  investments,  or 
with  the  management  of  industrial  enterprises, 
necessarily  gives  rise  to  fear.  Evidence  of  bad  judg- 
ment in  entering  upon  new  undertakings  or  proc- 
esses, in  estimating  markets,  in  failure  to  anticipate 
the  effect  of  changed  conditions,  reacts  to  the  detri- 
ment of  all  the  parties  to  Industry.  Unwarranted 
speculation,  the  cornering  of  markets,  stock-water- 
ing, fraud,  and  deception  of  any  and  every  kind, 
destroy  faith  and  beget  fear.  These  are  the  kinds 
of  misfortune  and  the  classes  of  evil  which  ofttimes 
overtake  directing  intelligence,  and  ensnare  organ- 
izing capacity.  The  borderland  between  legitimate 
and  illegitimate  venture  is  dim,  and  there  is  no 
kind  of  ability  which  has  not  its  peculiar  tempta- 
tion. Shortcomings  and  excesses  on  the  part  of 
Management  can  have  only  one  effect  upon  Capi- 
tal and  Labor,  and  that  is  to  discourage  their  ef- 
forts in  Industry.  How  often  one  hears  the  advice, 
not  to  invest  in  "industrials!"  Non-investment  in 
Industry  because  of  avoidable  fears  can  mean  only 
loss  of  opportunity  and  loss  of  reward  to  Labor, 
Capital,  Management,  and  the  Community. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        247 

It  would  seem  that  Labor,  Capital,  and  Manage- 
ment had  little  to  fear  in  consequence  of  Commu- 
nity activities,  since  communities  are  so  largely 
composed  of  their  industrial  populations.  Unfortu- 
nately, there  is  often  very  much  to  fear.  Whatever 
depletes  or  exhausts  a  community's  resources, 
whether  in  manhood  or  material  substance,  de- 
stroys the  source  from  which,  in  the  ultimate 
analysis,  all  Labor  and  Capital,  and  all  national 
strength,  is  derived.  How  dependent  both  Indus- 
try and  Nationality  are  upon  human  and  natural 
resources,  the  stress  of  war  has  helped  to  reveal. 
In  the  titanic  conflict  with  the  Central  Powers,  the 
cry  went  out  from  the  Allied  nations,  first  for  more 
men;  then  for  more  munitions;  soon  it  was  more 
food ;  then  more  ships.  To  meet  this  vast  demand, 
the  effort  of  government  was  necessarily  directed 
to  finding  men,  and  stimulating  the  primary  indus- 
tries: men,  first  of  all,  to  fight,  and  to  manufacture 
the  munitions  of  war;  then  men  for  agriculture, 
that  more  food  might  be  obtained;  men  for  the 
mines,  that  iron  and  coal  might  be  obtained ;  men 
for  the  forests  that  wood  might  be  obtained.  At  any 
stage,  exhausted  manhood  or  depleted  resources 
would  have  meant  defeat. 

Whatever  prejudices  the  peace  and  health  of 
conmiunities,  adversely  affects  the  employment  of 
labor  and  the  investment  of  capital  in  Industry. 
This  does  not  mean  that  certain  industries  may 


248  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

not  be  temporarily  stimulated  by  war.  Where,  un- 
der government  direction  and  because  of  public 
necessity,  a  high  rate  of  reward  is  guaranteed,  la- 
bor and  capital  flow  readily  enough  from  one  chan- 
nel to  another.  But  war  is  essentially  the  destruc- 
tion of  capital,  as  well  as  of  life  and  morals.  When 
war's  artificial  stimulus  is  removed,  and  its  indebt- 
edness has  to  be  met.  Industry  is  left  to  carry  a 
burden  which  robs  Labor,  Capital,  Management, 
and  the  Community  of  part  of  their  respective  re- 
wards. In  carrying  this  burden.  Industry  finds 
itself  still  further  handicapped  through  the  im- 
pairment of  the  capital  and  labor  available  for 
production. 

What  is  true  of  war  in  the  international  arena  is 
true  only  in  lesser  degree  of  waste  in  any  place,  in 
any  form,  at  any  time.  Wherever  strife  or  lawless- 
ness prevails.  Labor  ceases  to  be  employed,  and 
Capital  tends  to  withdraw  altogether.  Until  law 
and  order  was  maintained  in  the  several  states  of 
America,  Industry  failed  to  establish  itself,  despite 
the  unprecedented  wealth  of  vast  natural  resources. 
The  unrest  of  mining  regions,  much  more  than  their 
remoteness  from  investing  centres,  has  discouraged 
investment  of  capital  in  mining.  It  is  the  same 
with  conditions  inimical  to  health.  Had  it  not  been 
possible  to  control  yellow  fever,  the  construction  of 
the  Panama  Canal  might  have  been  indefinitely 
delayed,  notwithstanding  its  vast  significance  to 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        249 

ocean-borne  commerce.  Wherever  Labor  experi- 
ences serious  risk  of  life  or  impairment  of  health. 
Capital  as  well  as  Labor  loses  some  opportunity  of 
employment. 

Whatever  begets  uncertainty  and  distrust  in  the 
action  of  government  alarms  both  Labor  and  Capi- 
tal, and  tends  to  discourage  their  investment  in  In- 
dustry. Human  beings  have  to  be  reasonably  sure 
that  their  earnings  and  savings  will  not  be  jeopard- 
ized through  unwise  or  imprudent  action  on  the 
part  of  the  State  in  order  to  put  forth  their  best 
elTorts  in  production.  Habits  of  economy  and  thrift 
essential  to  the  accumulation  of  capital  and  its  sub- 
sequent investment  are  none  too  readily  acquired. 
Confidence  is  a  plant  of  tender  growth,  and  its  buds 
are  easily  nipped.  Reference  to  "conscription  of 
wealth  "  as  a  war  measure  has  occasioned  more  than 
one  Finance  Minister  to  take  note  of  uneasiness 
among  those  whose  savings  constitute  a  vital  fac- 
tor in  business  and  industrial  Ufe,  and  to  give  as- 
surances that  there  need  exist  no  apprehension  on 
the  part  of  the  pubhc  that  action  of  a  detrimental 
character  would  at  any  time  be  taken  with  respect 
to  savings.  There  are  clear  indications  that  capital 
in  the  United  States  has  withdrawn  from  railroad 
investment  because  of  the  uncertain  and  often  con- 
flicting nature  of  Federal  and  State  regulation  and 
control.  Fiscal  changes,  even  where  most  desirable, 
affect  investment  till  their  probable  consequences 


250  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

become  established.  Excessive  taxation  causes 
both  Capital  and  Labor  to  forsake  one  industry, 
and  very  often  one  country,  for  another.  What- 
ever imperils  security,  and  tends  to  rob  capital  of 
legitimate  reward,  not  only  discourages  further  in- 
vestment, but  leads  to  the  withdrawal  of  invest- 
ments already  made. 

Where  the  management  of  a  community's  affairs 
is  entrusted  to  a  privileged  few;  where,  in  govern- 
ment, autocracy  and  bureaucracy  persist,  Labor 
has  everything  to  fear.  The  working  classes  of 
Germany  and  Austria  had  no  say  in  the  coun- 
cils responsible  for  the  commencement  of  war  in 
Europe.  They  have  suffered,  and  will  continue  to 
suffer,  as  no  other  classes.  Not  alone  that,  but  the 
persistence  of  autocratic  rule  in  one  part  of  the 
world  subjects  all  other  parts  to  the  menace  of  its 
lusts  and  ambitions.  Recognition  of  this  rendered 
inevitable  the  combined  action  of  the  democracies 
of  the  world  for  the  preservation  of  their  common 
hberties. 

Communities  must  be  enlightened,  as  well  as 
free,  if  democracies  are  not  to  be  a  danger  to  them- 
selves. Within  the  period  of  the  War,  revolution- 
ary movements  in  China  and  Russia  have  followed 
the  overthrow  of  ancient  despotisms.  Every  in- 
stitution has  the  limitations  of  its  own  pecuhar 
quahties,  and  the  weakness  of  a  democracy  is  its 
tendency  to  be  swayed  by  popular  appeals.    The 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        251 

chances  of  unwise  leadership  are  increased  as  pol- 
itics becomes  increasingly  concerned  with  issues 
which  lend  themselves  to  popular  prejudice.  If 
Labor  is  to  be  saved  from  betrayal  and  investment 
in  Industry  is  not  to  be  discouraged,  Labor  must 
continue  to  strive,  as  its  friends  in  all  lands  have 
striven  on  its  behalf,  for  increased  opportunities  of 
enlightenment. 

State  control  and  State  ownership  of  Industry 
have  been  to  some  a  fear,  to  others  a  faith,  for  many 
years.  Recent  experience  has  produced  curious  re- 
versals of  opinion  as  to  their  merits.  Whilst  the 
War  has  fostered  State  control  in  unprecedented 
measure,  it  has  helped  also  to  reveal  limitations 
and  dangers.  Labor  has  discovered  that  State  con- 
trol may  mean  bureaucracy,  not  democracy.  All 
classes  have  seen  what  it  involves  of  officialism,  and 
the  example  of  Germany  has  shown  that  a  theory 
of  the  state  which  professes  to  be  for  the  good  of 
its  members  may  prove  a  menace  to  mankind. 
While  some  maintain  there  will  be  much  to  fear 
from  an  advance  of  Socialism  after  the  War,  others 
believe  that  weaknesses  inherent  in  Socialism  have 
been  effectively  exposed.  Is  it  not  possible  that, 
out  of  the  strain  and  stress  of  the  world  struggle, 
the  wheat  may  be  sifted  from  the  chaff;  and  that 
the  Community's  highest  interest  will  be  main- 
tained by  conserving  what  has  been  exhibited  of 
the  serviceableness  of  control,  and  avoiding  what  in 


252  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

equal  measure  may  be  proven  to  be  in  the  nature 
of  undue  interference  with  individual  effort? 

The  fears  of  Management,  apart  from  such  as  are 
shared  in  common  with  Capital,  are  seldom  sufTi- 
cient  to  circumscribe  effort  on  Management's  part. 
As  respects  ability  to  wait,  freedom  to  move  about 
and  to  strengthen  its  position  through  combina- 
tion, Management  resembles  Capital  rather  than 
Labor.  Since  at  every  stage  the  processes  of  Indus- 
try depend  so  absolutely  upon  the  successful  co- 
ordination of  effort,  some  measure  of  opportunity  is 
ever  present  to  those  who  possess  a  genius  for  this 
kind  of  service.  Rarely  is  the  supply  of  high-grade 
intelligence  equal  to  the  demand.  Where  initiative 
combined  with  organizing  capacity  reaches  high 
levels  of  successful  daring,  and  effects  vast  co- 
ordination of  industrial  processes,  Management 
often  commands  fabulous  returns.  The  chances 
of  reward  being  considerable,  this  form  of  effort 
is  called  forth  continuously.  Only  where  its  ex- 
pectation of  reward  is  excessive,  or  where  it  seeks 
monopoly,  has  Management  reason  to  be  on  its 
guard.  In  this  respect,  its  position  is  on  all  fours 
with  that  of  the  other  parties  to  production. 

In  the  case  of  the  Community,  a  fear  pecuhar  to 
itself  has  to  be  added  to  the  fears  shared  in  common 
with  the  other  parties  to  Industry.  It  is  the  fear  of 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        253 

Labor,  Capital,  and  Management  combining  to  en- 
hance prices  by  lessening  the  quantity  or  quaHty 
of  commodities  or  services.  This,  however,  is  not 
a  fear  calculated  to  circumscribe  effort  for  long, 
since  Labor,  Capital,  and  Management  are  in 
themselves  representative  of  individuals  who  are 
consumers  as  well  as  producers.  Apart  from  re- 
stricted groups  within  particular  trades,  there  is 
remote  likelihood  of  a  combination  to  profit  at  the 
expense  of  the  Community.  Combination  by  the 
three  parties  is  much  less  a  danger  than  the  possi- 
bility of  any  one  party  taking  temporary  advan- 
tage of  the  others  because  of  its  specially  favored 
or  powerful  position.  Within  circumscribed  areas 
of  particular  trades  and  businesses,  however,  there 
is  a  real  possibihty  of  combination  prejudicial  to 
the  interests  of  the  Community. 

Though  woefully  indifferent  to  its  use,  the  Com- 
munity has  an  ever-present  remedy  against  inimi- 
cal combination.  The  complete  or  partial  with- 
drawal of  some  privilege  or  opportunity  is  usually 
sufTicient  to  bring  recalcitrant  parties  to  book.  The 
more  extensive  the  organization  of  Industry  be- 
comes, the  more  it  depends  upon  public  patronage, 
and  upon  the  assistance  and  protection  of  pubUc 
or  quasi-public  agencies.  It  is  but  just,  therefore, 
as  well  as  reasonable,  that  the  Community  should 
share,  in  increasing  measure,  whatever  advantages 
accrue  to  Labor,  Capital,  or  Management  through 


254  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

opportunities  the  Community  affords.  Regarding 
Industry  as  in  the  nature  of  social  service,  this 
view  must  prevail.  It  is  Industry  serving  the  pub- 
lic, not  levying  toll  upon  it.  Once  the  latter  proc- 
ess is  attempted,  as  in  the  case  of  extortion  through 
monopoly,  profiteering,  cornering  markets,  and  the 
like,  the  Community  is  justified  in  going  any  neces- 
sary lengths  to  secure  adequate  redress.  Unsocial 
behavior  of  any  kind  is  in  the  nature  of  privilege 
biting  the  hand  that  feeds  it,  and  is  as  reprehensible 
as  it  is  ungrateful. 

II 

The  right  of  all  the  parties  to  Industry  to  share 
progressively  in  increased  productivity  through  ad- 
vantages accruing  to  any  one,  is  a  corollary  of  the 
right  of  each  to  share  equitably  in  the  output.  In 
the  long  process  of  the  transformation  of  natural  re- 
sources into  commodities  and  services  available  for 
use,  Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Com- 
munity are  necessary  at  every  stage.  To  share  the 
reward  of  combined  effort  is  necessary,  if  joint 
effort  is  to  be  attempted.  To  share  progressively 
in  the  reward  of  effort,  as  effort  increases  produc- 
tivity, is  equally  necessary  if,  on  the  part  of  each 
of  the  parties,  the  highest  effort  is  to  be  maintained. 
Whatever  occasions  fear  of  inadequate  progressive 
returns  thwarts  this  legitimate  ambition  and  reacts 
upon  effort. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK         255 

The  right  to  share  equitably  in  the  product  of 
Industry,  and  to  share  progressively  in  whatever 
increases  productivity,  gives  rise  to  fears  which 
supplement  those  which  have  their  origin  in  rela- 
tion to  the  respective  contributions  of  the  parties 
to  production.  The  fears  thus  entertained  by  La- 
bor are  not  that  Capital  and  Management  may  fail 
to  assist  in  the  increase  of  output,  but  that  their 
assistance  may  be  to  the  disadvantage  of  Labor 
in  comparison  with  gains  accruing  to  themselves. 
John  Stuart  Mill  long  ago  observed  of  invention, 
which  is  an  expression  of  intelhgence  in  its  highest 
form,  that,  whilst  it  had  vastly  helped  to  increase 
production,  it  was  extremely  doubtful  if  the  toil  of 
the  working  classes  had  been  appreciably  lessened 
thereby.  This  statement,  while  true,  is  less  appli- 
cable to-day  than  in  the  days  of  Mill.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that,  in  many  respects,  there  has  been 
a  vast  improvement  in  the  lot  of  the  working  classes 
within  the  last  century.  But  who  can  say  what  the 
present  lot  of  Labor  might  not  have  been  had  the 
gains  which  have  accrued  to  Industry  through 
discovery  and  invention  been  proportionately  dis- 
tributed? 

Management  and  the  control  or  possession  of 
capital  frequently  go  hand  in  hand.  Unfortunately 
it  has  not  been  so,  in  like  measure,  with  the  Com- 
munity and  Labor.  In  the  division  of  the  product 
in  which  all  share.  Capital  and  Management  have 


256  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

had  the  advantage.  The  circumstance  that  the 
combination  is  an  inevitable  outcome  of  the  law  of 
supply  and  demand  does  not  alter  consequences, 
or  the  fears  to  which  the  relationship  gives  rise. 
The  association  of  Management  with  the  control 
of  capital  serves  to  augment  the  fears  which  both 
Labor  and  the  Community  entertain  of  Capital 
and  Management.  With  the  growth  of  the  power 
of  organized  Labor,  there  has  developed  increasing 
fear  on  the  part  of  Capital  and  Management  that 
their  share  of  the  output  of  Industry  may  become 
progressively  less  instead  of  progressively  greater. 
The  probability  that,  by  exactions  of  various  kinds, 
the  Community  will  in  future  demand  a  larger  pro- 
portionate share  of  progressive  benefits  than  it  has 
hitherto  insisted  upon  is  also  occasioning  concern 
to  Capital  and  Management.  It  may  come  to  cause 
Labor  also  to  reflect. 

Consideration  of  how  best  to  eliminate  fears  re- 
specting the  distribution  of  output  touches  the  crux 
of  the  industrial  problem.  How  is  the  just  share  of 
each  party  to  Industry  to  be  determined?  And  how 
is  each  to  be  guaranteed  its  right  to  share  progres- 
sively in  increasing  productivity,  and  be  held  also 
to  the  corresponding  obligation  to  see  losses  pro- 
portionately shared? 

Were  it  possible  to  know  the  relative  value  of  the 
respective  contributions  of  Labor,  Capital,  Man- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        257 

agement,  and  the  Community,  the  difficulty  would 
admit  of  immediate  solution.  But  where  each  is 
necessary  to  the  other,  and  all  are  essential  and  in- 
terdependent, it  is  impossible  to  say  what  the  rela- 
tive contributions  are,  and  to  accord  differences 
of  degree  and  precedence.  Besides,  Industry  is  dis- 
tributed over  so  vast  an  area,  its  interdependent 
processes  are  so  minute  and  varied,  that  as  respects 
any  one  part  of  the  whole,  it  is  beyond  human  in- 
genuity even  to  contemplate  an  estimate  of  the 
combined  contributions.  Assuming  it  were  agreed 
that  all  the  parties  to  Industry  should  share 
equally,  on  the  ground  that  being  interdependent 
their  contributions  were  of  like  value,  it  would  still 
be  impossible  to  estimate  the  extent  of  the  contri- 
bution of  any  one  party,  since  it  is  impossible  to 
know  the  extent  of  their  combined  contributions. 

The  situation  as  it  actually  is,  has  been  well  set 
forth  by  Professor  W.  Stanley  Jevons,  with  refer- 
ence to  what  he  terms  "the  economics  of  the  labor 
question,"  or  "the  mechanics  of  production."  Pro- 
fessor Jevons  says:  "Production  of  wealth  consists 
in  the  putting  together  of  certain  materials,  and  the 
worldng  them  up  into  some  novel  form  by  the  aid 
of  labor  —  that  is  by  muscular  force  and  mental 
skill  and  knowledge.  As  with  the  Witches'  Caul- 
dron, there  is  needed 

"'Double,  double,  toil  and  trouble; 
Fire  burn  and  cauldron  bubble.' 


258  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

The  point  of  the  matter  is  that  hke  the  contents  of 
the  cauldron,  the  results  of  production  form  a  joint 
result  or  medley.  All  the  constituents  are  thrown 
into  hotch-potch,  and  as  it  is  impossible  to  say 
what  part  of  the  product  is  due  to  any  of  the  con- 
tributions thrown  into  the  cauldron,  no  natural, 
necessary,  or  legal  principle  of  dividing  the  pro- 
ceeds can  be  assigned." 

Elsew^here  he  adds:  "No  person's  share  being 
defined,  each  must  ask  for  the  most  which  he  has 
any  chance  of  getting,  and  must  content  himself 
with  the  best  which  he  succeeds  in  securing.  Every 
contributor  enters  voluntarily  into  the  hotch-potch, 
and  he  cannot  demand  more  than  was  agreed  upon 
when  he  entered  the  partnership.  Practically  the 
whole  question  resolves  itself  into  a  complex  case 
of  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand.  If  any  intended 
partner  in  the  work  of  production  is  dissatisfied 
with  the  assigned  share  of  the  expected  produce,  he 
is  at  liberty  to  refuse  to  enter  into  the  business. 
The  other  partners  then  must  either  concede  his 
demands,  or  must  find  somebody  else  to  take  his 
place  or  must  abandon  the  work.  The  whole  ad- 
justment of  distribution  of  wealth  thus  hinges  upon 
the  question  whether  one  person  or  thing  will  do  as 
well  as  another.  A  landlord  cannot  successfully  ask 
a  certain  rent  for  his  land  if  another  landlord  is  will- 
ing to  let  an  equally  good  and  available  site  at  a 
lower  rent.  A  worlonan  canno+  expect  to  get  forty 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        259 

shillings  a  week,  while  an  equally  good  work- 
man is  ready  to  work  at  thirty-five  shilUngs.  As  to 
simple  money  capital,  it  matters  little  whence  it 
comes,  provided  it  can  be  had  for  a  sufficient  term, 
and  the  smallest  fractional  difference  in  the  rate 
of  interest  would  therefore  be  a  sufficient  cause  of 
preference.  The  same  principle  holds  true,  likewise, 
of  the  business  capacity  of  the  manager,  though 
in  a  less  obvious  manner.  .  .  .  The  whole  affair, 
therefore,  is  one  of  comparative  advantages,  each 
contributor  to  the  hotch-potch  trying  to  get  the 
largest  share  of  the  proceeds  short  of  the  point  at 
which  he  will  drive  the  other  contributors  to  fmd 
other  hotch-potches  where  their  share  will  be 
better."! 

All  this  is  far  from  satisfying;  it  is  doubly  discon- 
certing because  obviously  so  true  of  existing  con- 
ditions and  methods.  It  will  not  help  matters,  how- 
ever, to  rail  at  a  situation  because  it  is  baffling,  or 
because  of  its  seeming  injustice.  The  difficulty  or 
injustice  may  he,  after  all,  not  so  much  in  the  situ- 
ation, as  in  our  way  of  viewing  it. 

Clearly,  there  can  be  but  one  of  two  attitudes  for 
the  parties  to  Industry  to  adopt  in  such  a  case. 
They  may  regard  the  whole  business  hopelessly, 
and  say  that,  in  the  end,  it  all  comes  down  to  a 
question  of  Might,  and  each  may  shape  an  im- 
mediate course  irrespective  of  its  effect  upon  the 

^  The  State  in  Relation  to  Labour,  p.  90  et  seq. 


260  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

possible  contributions  of  the  other  parties,  and  its 
own  ultimate  reward.  Or  the  parties  may  view  the 
matter  with  Reason  and  with  a  belief  in  ultimate 
Right,  and  see  in  the  "  hotch-potch,"  not  a  grab-all 
for  the  moment,  but  something  capable  of  perma- 
nently contributing  to  general  well-being  and  ad- 
vancement, provided  each  can  be  stimulated  and 
encouraged  to  contribute  its  utmost  share.  One  or 
other  of  these  attitudes  must  prevail.  The  former 
attitude  is  based  on  Fear,  the  latter  on  Faith. 
There  is  no  room  for  compromise  between  the  two, 
and  they  are  exclusive  of  all  others. 

A  careful  analysis  of  the  fears  which  surround 
the  parties  to  Industry,  and  especially  Labor  and 
Capital,  discloses  that,  almost  without  exception, 
they  are  bred  of  mutual  suspicion  for  which,  it  must 
be  admitted,  experience  has  given  ample  grounds. 
Deeper  than  suspicion  Ues  a  beUef,  sometimes  con- 
sciously, oftener  unconsciously  entertained,  in  op- 
posed as  contrasted  with  common  interests.  This 
suspicion  and  distrust  between  the  parties  to  Indus- 
try resembles  nothing  quite  so  much  as  the  suspicion 
and  distrust  on  the  part  of  nations  which  leads  ulti- 
mately to  war.  The  fear  that  Labor  will  not  put  forth 
its  utmost  effort  causes  Capital  to  dilute  labor,  sub- 
stitute machines,  speed  up  processes,  cut  rates,  and 
resort  to  the  hundred  and  one  other  devices  which 
fill  Labor  with  alarm.    The  fear  that  Capital  will 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        261 

seek  to  take  advantage  of  increased  effort  causes 
Labor  to  restrict  output,  and  to  resist  attempts  at 
increasing  productivity  through  the  introduction 
of  new  methods  and  processes  or  the  promotion  of 
efficiency  in  other  ways.  Labor's  attitude  of  resist- 
ance fills  Capital  with  alarm.  Capital's  attitude 
increases  Labor's  resistance.  And  as  fears  increase, 
antagonisms  develop.  A  growing  class  conscious- 
ness conceived  in  mistrust  gives  birth  to  vast  or- 
ganization, leading  to  intensified  fears  of  Labor,  on 
the  one  side,  and  of  the  monied  interests,  or  Capital, 
on  the  other.  Might  comes  to  be  substituted  for 
Right.  The  fruits  of  Industry  come  to  be  viewed 
as  the  surface  of  the  globe  is  viewed  by  warring  na- 
tions: as  so  much  in  the  way  of  possession  to  be 
apportioned,  not  by  Reason,  but  by  Force.  Thus 
is  commenced  and  developed  the  same  kind  of  com- 
petitive arming  which  has  proven  so  fatal  between 
nations,  the  same  kind  of  aUiances  on  the  part  of 
opposed  groups,  the  same  inevitable  drift  toward 
ultimate  disaster  to  all  concerned.  Such  warfare  is 
surely  none  other  than  the  working  of  the  Law  of 
Blood  and  of  Death  which  leads  to  extermination. 
It  can  never  be  supposed  that  any  such  sequence 
was  intended  as  a  law  of  Industry,  any  more  than 
it  is  capable  of  being  a  law  of  Life. 

Realizing  the  utter  failure  of  the  Law  of  Blood 
and  of  Death  to  solve  the  crucial  problem  of  Indus- 
try, we  are  driven  to  test  the  efficacy  of  the  con- 


262  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

trar>^  law,  by  the  adoption  of  the  attitude  on  which 
it  is  based.  Let  Faith  be  substituted  for  Fear;  let 
mutual  consideration  and  confidence  supplant  sus- 
picion, and  constructive  good-will  replace  resist- 
ance; let  the  parties  to  Industry  recognize  a  mutu- 
ality, not  a  conflict  of  interest,  in  all  that  pertains 
to  maximum  production  and  equitable  distribution 
of  wealth;  and  what  is  the  result?  Immediately, 
fresh  energies  are  released,  a  new  freedom  is  given 
to  effort  in  Industry.  Productivity  is  increased,  as 
are  also  the  respective  rewards  of  all  the  parties. 

The  selfishness  that  hoards  its  talent,  lest  by 
others  sharing  in  profit  there  may  be  less  of  indi- 
vidual gain,  necessarily  defeats  itself  in  the  end. 
Were  such  an  attitude  to  become  general,  there 
would  soon  be  nothing  at  all  to  share.  Moreover, 
production  and  consumption  are  interdependent. 
Without  production,  there  can  be  no  consumption; 
and  without  consumption,  production  would  be  of 
no  account.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  earnings  of  a 
producer  except  the  inclinations  and  means  of  the 
consumer.  The  effort  that  aims  at  maximum  pro- 
duction makes  possible  increase  of  individual  gain 
to  producers  and  increase  of  gain  to  consumers  as 
well.  It  is  twice  blessed :  it  enriches  ahke  the  giver 
and  the  receiver.  And  it  is  capable  of  unUmited 
adoption  by  all  parties. 

Here  is  suggested  a  possibility  as  encouraging  as 
the  medley  of  the  "hotch-potch"  was  the  reverse. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        263 

Whatever  allays  the  fears  of  Labor,  Capital,  Man- 
agement, and  the  Communily  brings  them  forth  in 
larger  measure  as  contributing  factors  to  produc- 
tion. Whatever  increases  production  tends  to  en- 
hance purchasing  power,  and  so  to  benefit  the  parties 
to  Industry.  Whatever  enhances  purchasing  power 
tends,  in  turn,  to  increase  production.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  the  vicious  circle,  bred  of  fears  and 
narrowing  continually  towards  destruction  and  ex- 
termination, the  substitution  of  Faith  for  Fear  pro- 
vides an  enchanted  circle  widening  ever  towards 
increase  of  effort  and  increase  of  enjoyment  as  well. 
The  substitution  of  Faith  for  Fear  between  the 
parties  to  Industry  leads  not  only  to  increasing 
productivity  through  increased  freedom  of  effort  on 
the  part  of  each;  it  leads  also  to  increased  benefits 
progressively  shared  by  all.  How,  as  respects  prin- 
ciples underlying  Peace,  the  substitution  of  Faith 
for  Fear  may  be  effected  has  already  been  indi- 
cated. It  remains  to  consider  its  apphcation  as  re- 
spects conduct  and  conditions  which  bear  primarily 
on  Work  and  Health. 


Ill 

The  rules  of  conduct  and  the  methods  whereby 
it  has  been  sought  to  eliminate  Fear  and  to  substi- 
tute Faith  between  the  parties  to  Industry  may  be 
variously  classified.  For  the  most  part,  they  find  a 


264  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

place  in  one  of  the  following  categories:  —  meth- 
ods of  industrial  peace;  methods  of  vocational 
training  and  industrial  and  technical  education; 
methods  of  industrial  remuneration;  methods  of 
industrial  organization  and  management;  meth- 
ods of  meeting  industrial  risks;  methods  of  in- 
dustrial betterment;  and  methods  of  industrial 
government.  There  is  nothing  arbitrary  about 
this  classification.  In  the  last  analysis,  the  several 
methods  are  as  interrelated  and  interdependent  as 
are  the  constituent  elements  of  the  Law  of  Peace, 
Work,  and  Health.  Moreover,  they  are  all  more  or 
less  subject  to  change  under  the  continuous  play  of 
the  pow^erful  agencies  of  Discovery  and  Invention, 
Education,  Government,  and  Opinion.  Classifica- 
tion serves  the  purpose  of  arrangement  only.  It  is 
a  sort  of  industrial  design  which  alters  as  the  condi- 
tions of  Industry  change. 

Methods  of  industrial  peace  have  received  con- 
sideration in  treating  of  principles  underlying 
Peace.  Methods  of  meeting  industrial  risks  and 
methods  of  industrial  betterment  are  best  left  to  be 
considered  along  with  principles  underlying  Health. 
Methods  of  vocational  training  and  of  industrial 
and  technical  education,  methods  of  industrial 
remuneration,  and  methods  of  industrial  organiza- 
tion and  management,  may  be  referred  to  appro- 
priately in  considering  the  principles  underlying 
Work.    Methods  of  industrial  government,  more 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        265 

than  any  of  the  others,  bear  on  all  methods  com- 
bined, and  are  therefore  best  reserved  for  final  and 
separate  consideration. 

Since  increasing  productivity  is  possible  in  Indus- 
try only  through  a  progressive  increase  in  the  effi- 
ciency of  Industry,  it  is  obviously  in  the  interest  of 
Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Community 
that  whatever  promotes  industrial  efficiency  should 
be  encouraged,  and  that  whatever  tends  toward 
inefficiency  should  be  eliminated  or  changed. 

It  is  important  to  understand  just  what  is 
meant  by  "  promoting  industrial  efficiency."  It  cer- 
tainly does  not  mean  an  alteration  in  the  way  in 
which  the  product  is  shared,  whereby  one  party  to 
production  is  enabled  to  benefit  at  the  expense  of 
another.  1  There  is,  for  example,  no  promoting  of 
efficiency  in  Industry  if  Capital,  in  order  to  increase 
its  own  share  of  the  product,  lowers  the  rate  of 
wages  to  Labor  to  a  point  where  the  amount  to  be 
earned  ceases  to  be  adequate  as  an  incentive  to  en- 
ergy and  skill.  Such  a  false  step  helps  only  to  lessen 
productivity,  to  which  Capital  as  well  as  Labor 
must  look  for  its  returns.  Similarly,  there  is  no 
promoting  of  efficiency  in  Industry  if  Labor  en- 
gaged upon  an  industrial  process  in  which  machin- 
ery is  utilized  prevents  an  improvement  in  the 
process  whereby  output  is  materially  increased, 

^  Vide  Sidney  Webb,  The  Restoration  of  Trade  Union  Condiiions. 


266  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

merely  to  insure  the  maintenance  of  its  own  re- 
turns, and  to  prevent  increased  returns  to  Capital 
through  increased  productivity.  Promoting  indus- 
trial efficiency  means,  in  any  true  acceptation  of 
the  phrase,  promoting  the  advantage  of  all  through 
improvements  in  skill,  machinery,  management, 
materials,  markets,  organization,  or  any  other 
method  or  means  incidental  to  production,  in  such 
manner  as  to  make  possible  and  certain  increased 
benefits  to  all  the  contributing  factors. 

An  increase  in  efficiency  is  usually  referred  to  in 
business  as  a  decrease  in  the  cost  of  production. 
Whatever  decreases  the  cost  of  production  in  In- 
dustry makes  possible  increased  productivity,  and 
thereby  a  gain  to  Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and 
the  Community.  Whatever  increases  the  cost  of 
production  has  the  opposite  effect.  Here,  likewise, 
it  is  important  to  understand  precisely  the  meaning 
of  expressions  used. 

To  lead  to  increased  productivity,  a  decrease  in 
the  cost  of  production  must  be  genuinely  such.  It 
must  not  mean  a  decrease  in  the  return  to  one  of  the 
factors  in  production,  that  at  its  expense  some 
other  factor  may  receive  a  larger  proportionate 
share  of  the  product.  Such  action  does  not  relate 
to  cost  of  production  at  all,  but  to  the  division  of  the 
product,  which  is  an  entirely  different  thing.  There 
is  a  vast  difference  between  a  decrease  in  the  rate  of 
return  to  any  one  or  all  of  the  several  factors  in  pro- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        267 

duction,  and  a  decrease  in  the  cost  of  production. 
The  two,  in  fact,  are  incompatible.  A  decrease  in 
productivity  out  of  which  all  returns  are  made 
means  that  there  has  been  an  increase  in  cost. 
Only  an  increase  in  productivity  means  a  decrease 
in  cost. 

In  a  decrease  of  cost  of  production,  the  same 
amount  or  a  better  quality  of  product  is  produced 
with  less  effort  or  strain  on  the  part  of  Labor,  or  at 
less  cost  to  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Commu- 
nity. With  the  freeing  of  some  effort  on  the  part  of 
Labor,  or  some  expenditure  on  the  part  of  Capital, 
Management,  or  the  Community,  a  larger  produc- 
tivity is  rendered  possible  through  contributions 
equalling  in  amount  those  formerly  made.  With  a 
larger  product  there  is  the  possibility  of  increased  re- 
turns, not  to  one  factor  at  the  expense  of  others,  but  to 
all  at  the  expense  of  none.  There  is  the  possibility 
of  a  twofold  gain  to  Labor,  Capital,  and  Manage- 
ment, since  they  share  rewards  in  increase  of  pro- 
ductivity as  producers  and  also  as  consumers. 

With  the  fundamental  distinction  between  cost 
and  rate  of  return  in  production  rightly  understood, 
the  prejudice  against "  efficiency, "  so  widely  enter- 
tained by  Labor,  may  be  expected  to  disappear.  It 
is  not  against  "efficiency"  as  leading  to  a  lessen- 
ing in  the  cost  of  production,  with  consequent  in- 
crease of  benefits  to  all  the  contributing  factors, 
that  Labor  has  inveighed,  but  against  a  so-called 


268  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

"  efficiency "  which  is  in  the  nature  of  theft,  and 
which  is  evidenced  wherever  there  is  unwilhngness 
on  the  part  of  Capital  or  Management  to  share  in 
just  proportion,  or  to  share  at  all,  the  benefits  of  in- 
creased production  which  efficiency  brings.  As  re- 
spects increase  of  efficiency  and  consequent  lessen- 
ing in  the  cost  of  production,  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  the  interest  of  Labor,  Capital,  Management, 
and  the  Community  does  not  cease  with  a  possible 
gain :  it  extends  to  an  actual  progressive  gain  for  one 
and  all  corresponding  to  increasing  productivity. 

Were  the  respective  interests  of  Labor,  Capital, 
Management,  and  the  Community  antagonistic, 
it  would  be  folly  to  seek  to  discover  methods 
whereby  the  rights  of  all  might  be  conserved,  and 
progressive  gains  arising  from  increased  produc- 
tivity secured  to  each.  Happily,  their  respective 
interests  are,  as  regards  output,  mutually  and  ab- 
solutely interdependent.  As  regards  the  division 
of  output,  advantages  may  be  temporarily  gained 
by  one  or  more  of  the  parties,  but  in  the  long  run, 
failure  to  protect  the  just  interests  of  each  involves 
loss,  in  some  measure,  to  all.  It  is  only  by  viewing 
Industry  in  a  comprehensive  way  that  this  funda- 
mental truth  can  be  grasped.  Once  appreciated,  it 
will  be  seen  that  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  several 
parties  to  Industry  to  fmd  means  whereby,  for  the 
sake  of  larger  permanent  gains  to  all,  injustice  to 
any  one  of  the  parties  may  be  avoided. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        269 

In  no  surer  way  can  workmen  attain  a  sense  of 
freedom  in  the  exercise  of  effort  and  consequent  in- 
crease in  efficiency  than  by  acquiring  a  thorough 
understanding  of  and  skill  in  their  particular  occu- 
pations or  trades.  Knowledge  Ues  at  the  root  of 
freedom  of  effort,  as  freedom  of  effort  lies  at  the 
root  of  efficiency,  and  as  efficiency,  it  might  be 
added,  Ues  at  the  root  of  the  reward  of  effort.  To 
acquire  skill  and  understanding  is  a  matter  of  ex- 
perience and  training. 

In  a  regime  of  Industry  limited  to  the  use  of 
hand  tools,  as  under  the  domestic  system,  training 
was  for  a  term  of  years,  in  accordance  with  the 
prevaihng  custom  of  apprenticeship.  The  skilled 
apprentice  who  had  acquired  his  craft  became  a 
journeyman.  In  the  course  of  time,  he  might  be- 
come a  master.  Training  and  experience  were  the 
avenues  to  promotion.  To-day,  the  same  avenues 
remain,  but  they  run  through  a  vastly  different 
tract.  Industry,  for  centuries,  was  a  matter  of  sim- 
ple hand  processes,  more  or  less  complete  in  them- 
selves. The  entirety  of  processes  was  readily  under- 
stood and  afforded  opportunity  for  the  keenest 
sort  of  enjoyment  in  high  grade  and  artistic  work- 
manship. Industry,  as  constituted  to-day,  is  a 
series  of  infinitely  detailed  processes,  in  which  the 
worker  too  often  becomes  a  more  or  less  mechani- 
cal part  of  a  vast  machine  propelled  by  forces  be- 
yond his  control,  and  possessing  a  complexity  far 


270  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

beyond  his  ken.  Skill  remains,  as  it  always  has  been, 
a  first  requisite  to  the  free  performance  of  effort, 
but  it  is  a  kind  of  sldll  different  from  that  demanded 
by  the  old  handicrafts.  Understanding  of  his  own 
part  in  production  remains  essential  to  the  work- 
er's maximum  efhciency.  Such  an  understanding 
to-day  involves  knowledge  vastly  more  extensive 
than  any  required  ©f  workmen  in  earlier  years. 

If  the  w^orkman  to-day  is  to  be  afforded  oppor- 
tunity to  progress  in  his  trade,  and  to  be  given  an 
understanding  of  industrial  processes  sufficiently 
comprehensive  to  make  the  part  played  by  his  own 
work  intelligible  and  enjoyable,  his  training  can  no 
longer  be  left  to  Chance,  or  even  to  the  direction 
of  those  immediately  superior  to  him.  He  must  be 
afforded  opportunity  to  acquire  skill  and  an  under- 
standing of  industrial  processes,  under  instruction 
specially  devised  to  meet  the  requirements  of  his 
particular  occupation  in  its  relation  to  the  whole 
process  of  production.  Such  opportunity  is  being 
gradually  provided  under  the  development  of  Vo- 
cational Training  and  Industrial  and  Technical 
Education.  1 

^  While  Minister  of  Labor,  I  had  the  privilege  of  recommending 
the  appointment  by  the  Government  of  Canada  of  a  Royal  Commis- 
sion on  Industrial  Training  and  Technical  Education.  The  Com- 
mission was  appointed  June  i,  19 lo,  and  made  its  report  three  years 
later.  {Report  and  Evidence,  vols,  i-iv,  King's  Printer,  Ottawa,  191 3.) 
The  reader  will  find  in  the  Report  comprehensive  information  con- 
cerning the  systems  and  methods  of  industrial  training  and  technical 
education  in  America  and  in  the  several  countries  of  Europe,  as  well 
as  most  valuable  suggestions  and  recommendations. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        271 

Vocational  Training  and  Industrial  and  Tech- 
nical Education  are  in  no  sense  substitutes  for 
general  education  of  either  a  primary  or  secon- 
dary character,  or  an  alternative  to  university 
education.  They  ought  to  be  supplementary  to 
general  education,  which  aims  at  increasing  in- 
telhgence,  and  especially  at  developing  powers 
of  observation  and  self-expression. i  Vocational 
Training  and  Industrial  and  Technical  Educa- 
tion utilize  this  development  in  ways  that  are 
likely  to  be  of  advantage  to  the  worker  in  his 
specific  occupation  and  in  a  large  way  to  Indus- 
try itself.  By  developing  skill  in  the  worker  and 
affording  a  much  needed  understanding  of  indus- 
trial processes,  Vocational  Training  and  Industrial 
and  Technical  Education  make  possible  more  ef- 
ficient service  on  the  part  of  Labor,  with  pos- 
sible increase  in  Labor's  earning  capacity.  More 
efficient  service  by  Labor  means  also  a  lessening  in 
the  cost  of  production,  which  makes  possible  in- 
creased reward  to  Labor,  and  increased  rewards 
to  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Community  as 
well. 

Of  Methods  of  Industrial  Remuneration  which 
are  calculated  to  beget  a  sense  of  freedom  in  effort, 
and  which  therefore  are  specially  adapted  to  pro- 
mote efficiency,  it  is  certain  that  experience  has  re- 
vealed no  single  method  possessing  a  monopoly  of 

1  Vide  Memorandum  oj  Gorton  Foundation. 


272  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

advantage.^  On  the  contrary,  methods  wholly  dif- 
ferent have  disclosed  much  of  indi\ddual  merit.  The 
practice  which  in  the  long  run  is  apt  to  do  most  by 
way  of  promoting  efficiency,  through  harmonizing 
the  interests  of  Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and 
the  Community,  is  pretty  certain  to  be  in  the  na- 
ture of  a  combination  of  features  broader  than  any 
possessed  by  a  single  method. 

What  Labor  is  really  concerned  about  as  regards 
remuneration,  is  adequate  reward  of  the  effort  put 
forth.  What  Capital  and  Management  are  really 
concerned  about  is  adequate  reward  for  their  in- 
vestments and  services.  What  the  Community  is 
really  concerned  about  is  adequate  value  in  services 
and  commodities  for  purchasing  power.  The  method 
of  remuneration  of  Labor  which  helps  most  to  se- 
cure adequacy  of  returns  all  round  is  the  method 
which  is  likely  to  prove  the  most  productive  of 
efficiency,  and,  in  the  long  run,  the  most  advanta- 
geous to  Labor. 

What  is  earned,  rather  than  what  is  received,  or 
paid,  is  the  fundamental  consideration.  Men  should 
get  what  they  earn,  and  should  earn  what  they  get. 
The  amount  of  product  must  be  looked  to  as  the 
determining  factor.  The  thing  paid  for  is  the  result, 
not  the  time  spent  on  obtaining  it. 

Where  remuneration  is  the  incentive  to  effort,  if 

1  The  reader  is  referred  to  Industrial  Efficiency,  by  Dr.  Arthur 
Shadwcill  (Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  London,  1909),  reference  to  which 
source  is  hereby  acknowledged. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        273 

effort  is  to  be  adequate,  remuneration  must  be  ade- 
quate. The  real  interest  of  the  parties  to  Industry 
Hes  in  the  incentive  being  adequate  to  call  forth  the 
best  that  is  in  the  worker  in  energy  and  skill;  in 
other  words,  the  utmost  of  his  will  and  capacity. 
If  the  best  is  to  be  expected  of  a  man,  he  must  be 
given  the  fullest  opportunity  to  make  the  best  of 
himself. 

Wages,  hke  hours,  may  be  excessive  or  deficient. 
They  are  too  high  when  they  lead  to  laziness  and 
indifference,  and  too  low  when  they  are  insufficient 
to  stimulate  effort.  Adequate  wages  are  benefi- 
cial aUke  to  Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and  the 
Community,  in  that  they  lead  to  a  maximum  of 
effort  and  a  minimum  of  waste. 

It  is  seldom  possible  to  determine  readily  what  are 
adequate  wages.  Much  depends  on  the  class  of 
work  to  be  performed  and  the  amount  of  energy 
and  skill  required;  on  the  character  and  tempera- 
ment, and  even  on  the  heredity  of  the  worker. 
Much  depends,  too,  on  circumstances  and  condi- 
tions such  as  the  available  supply  and  demand  of 
labor,  the  hours  to  be  worked,  the  quaUty  of  ma- 
terials supplied,  the  efficiency  of  the  plant  and 
equipment,  and  other  indeterminable  factors.  With 
remuneration,  as  with  all  else  in  industrial  rela- 
tions, to  secure  efficiency  is  a  matter  of  proper  ad- 
justments. Account  must  be  taken  of  human  as 
well  as  economic  considerations.    The  incentive 


274  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

must  be  adjusted  to  the  individual.  "The  ideal 
condition  economically,"  says  Dr.  Arthur  Shad- 
well,  "would  be  an  automatic  mechanism  which 
would  exactly  adjust  the  incentive  to  the  indi- 
vidual, or  the  wages  to  the  work,  thereby  ehciting 
the  best  of  which  each  is  capable.  This  would  be 
equally  advantageous  to  the  wage-taker  and  the 
wage-giver,  and  to  the  community  to  which  both 
belong,  because  there  would  be  no  waste.  Its  per- 
fect realization  in  industry  is  no  more  practicable 
than  any  other  sort  of  perfection,  but  some  meth- 
ods of  remuneration  come  nearer  to  it  than  others, 
and  their  comparative  bearing  on  efficiency  can  be 
gauged  accordingly."^ 

Proceeding  to  estimate  the  various  methods  of 
remunerating  Labor,  by  reference  to  the  economic 
principle  of  "adjusted  incentive"  or  "the  differ- 
ential treatment  of  varying  capacity,"  this  eminent 
authority  finds  that,  of  all  methods,  the  farthest  re- 
moved from  the  ideal  is  that  of  Time-wages  at  a  uni- 
form rate,  in  that  it  presupposes  an  equality  which 
has  no  existence,  and  is  therefore  based  on  a  false 
principle.  Piece-work,  on  the  other  hand,  he  regards 
as  obviously  based  on  the  sound  economic  principle 
that  workers  should  be  paid  according  to  the  value 
of  their  work.  Where  Time-work  is  adjusted  to  in- 
dividual capacity,  the  principle  is  the  same  as  that 
underlying  payment  by  the  piece. 

1  Industrial  Efficiency,  p.  Sgo. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK       275 

That  Dr.  Shadwell  in  his  analysis  is  right,  must 
be  apparent  to  all  who,  like  him,  have  had  a 
wide  range  of  observation  and  experience.  How 
is  it,  then,  that  Labor,  which  is  primarily  inter- 
ested in  the  method  of  remuneration  best  calcu- 
lated to  assure  it  amplest  returns,  is  so  averse  to 
payment  on  a  piece-work  basis,  and  incHnes  so 
strongly  to  payment  of  a  standard  wage  on  a  time 
basis?  To  attribute  this  to  sheer  laziness,  or  to  a 
desire  to  degrade  all  workers  to  the  level  of  the  least 
capable  or  industrious  is  as  untrue  to  the  facts  as 
it  is  unfair  to  human  nature.  Workers  in  Indus- 
try are  just  as  inchned  to  put  forth  effort  for  the 
sake  of  reward,  just  as  ambitious,  just  as  eager 
for  individual  recognition,  as  individuals  of  any 
other  class  in  society.  Nor  are  the  leaders  different 
from  others  in  these  respects.  If  in  appreciable 
numbers  the  workers  fail  in  these  qualities,  it  is 
because  the  path  of  bitter  experience  has  bred 
feelings  of  fatality  concerning  the  circumstances 
of  their  lot,  and  because,  in  the  immensity  of  the 
struggle  in  which  they  are  involved,  they  see  little 
hope  of  gaining  a  reward  which  they  consider  ad- 
equate, httle  opportunity  of  rising  to  a  higher  level, 
and  little  scope  for  individual  initiative  or  individ- 
ual attainment. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not  the  desire  to  ignore 
talent,  but  a  belief  that  in  some  manner  beyond 
their  control  special  skill  or  exertion  will  be  ignored. 


276  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

or,  what  is  worse,  exploited,  that  provokes  among 
workingmen  a  reaction  against  piece-work  pay- 
ment, and  a  desire  for  payment  on  a  time  basis.  As 
Dr.  Shadwell  has  pointed  out,  the  minimum  time- 
wage,  on  which  Labor  insists,  is  itself  a  sort  of  tacit 
and  unconscious-protest  against  a  uniform  rate, 
since  a  minimum  implies  possible  variations  which 
are  not  to  fall  beneath  a  certain  point  but  may  rise 
above  it.  Likewise,  the  real  meaning  of  the  "  living 
wage,''  he  finds  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  wages  are  the 
incentive  to  work,  and  must  be  adequate  to  pro- 
duce it.  Where  men  are  forced  by  necessity  to 
work  below  a  standard  which  constitutes  a  living 
wage,  labor,  while  apparently  cheap,  is  really  dear, 
because  "sweated"  Labor  is  either  unwiUing  or 
without  capacity. 

If  payment  on  a  piece-work  rather  than  on  a  uni- 
form time  basis  is  to  be  maintained  in  Industry,  it 
can  be  so  only  through  affording  grounds  sufficient 
to  lead  to  the  substitution  of  Faith  for  Fear  as  re- 
spects the  consequences  involved.  Foremost  must 
come  the  certainty  that  if  a  man  increases  his  out- 
put by  working  harder,  he  will  continue  to  reap  an 
advantage  by  so  doing.  This  means  that  employers 
must  refrain  from  cutting  down  the  piece-price  in 
order  to  reap,  at  Labor's  expense,  the  benefit  of  in- 
creased exertions  on  the  part  of  Labor.  Such  prac- 
tice vitiates  the  whole  principle  of  piece-work  pay- 
ment by  destroying  the  capable  worker's  incentive. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        277 

Since  it  inevitably  results  in  a  lessening  of  produc- 
tivity, it  deals  a  fatal  blow  at  efTiciency,  leads  to  a 
consequent  increase  in  the  cost  of  production,  and 
justifies  the  prejudice  on  the  part  of  Labor  against 
this  method  of  remuneration. 

Piece-work,  moreover,  must  not  be  rendered 
illusory  in  practice  through  employers  providing 
bad  material  or  machinery.  The  temptation  to 
"speed  up"  machinery,  thereby  overtaxing  the 
energies  of  the  worker,  is  something  which  must 
also  be  guarded  against,  though  it  is  not  Ukely  to 
be  a  source  of  danger  where  the  rate  of  speed  is 
controlled  by  the  worker  himself.  The  fear  that 
jealousy  between  workers  may  be  excited  through 
competition  is  less  an  evil  than  the  danger  that  in- 
centive may  so  vanish  as  to  leave  httle  room  for 
competition.  The  example  of  the  more  capable 
and  industrious  should  prove  a  stimulus  rather 
than  an  irritant  to  less  efficient  workers  where  cer- 
tainty of  enhanced  rewards  is  rendered  apparent. 

Once  confidence  is  estabhshed  in  the  piece-work 
basis  of  remuneration  through  the  assured  main- 
tenance of  the  principle  on  which  it  is  founded, 
that,  namely,  of  workers  being  rewarded  according 
to  the  value  of  their  work,  the  stimulus  of  ordinary 
piece-work  may  be  increased  in  various  ways  by  ad- 
ditional rewards  based  on  evidences  of  different  in- 
dividual capacity.  In  technical  language,  this  is  the 
principle  of  the  "intensive  differential  rate."  Refer- 


278  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ring  to  intensive  piece-work.  Dr.  Shadwell  says:  "It 
takes  different  forms,  but  generally  consists  in  pay- 
ing each  worker  a  higher  price  (i.e.,  a  differential 
rate)  for  each  piece  or  job  in  proportion  to  the  ra- 
pidity and  quality  of  his  workmansliip.  This  auto- 
matically adjusts  the  incentive  to  the  individual 
who  has  the  choice  of  earning  more  or  less  according 
to  capacity  and  industry.  The  employer  is  able  to 
pay  higher  wages  for  quicker  work  because  he  gets 
a  larger  output  for  the  same  machine  cost.  He  di- 
vides with  the  worker  the  advantage  accruing  from 
the  difference." 

Organized  Labor,  in  some  trades,  has  protested 
against  this  method  on  the  ground  that  it  resembles 
the  task  system  of  wage  payment  and  creates  jeal- 
ousy and  ill-feeling.  It  is  clear  that  a  rare  imparti- 
aUty  must  be  exercised  in  any  attempt  to  apply  the 
principle  of  the  "intensive  differential  rate,"  and 
that  a  just  discrimination  is  difficult.  Unless,  in 
practice,  suspicion  of  favoritism  or  of  undue  pres- 
sure can  be  avoided,  this  method  may  well  serve  to 
arouse  rather  than  allay  unrest. 

Similar  in  purpose  to  payment  by  the  piece  is  the 
premium  or  premium  bonus  plan.  It  consists  in 
offering  additional  pay  for  more  output  in  a  given 
time,  or  for  less  time  expended  on  a  given  piece,  or 
for  economies  effected  with  respect  to  power,  sup- 
plies, or  materials  used  in  production.  The  pre- 
mium may  be  differently  calculated  according  to 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        279 

the  nature  of  the  work.  It  may  be  on  a  time  basis, 
so  much  by  the  day  or  week  with  additional  pay  for 
curtailment  of  the  time  required  for  a  given  result, 
or  on  a  piece  basis  with  a  bonus  for  the  less  time  ex- 
pended on  a  given  piece.  Or  it  may  be  on  a  basis  of 
inverse  ratio  to  quantities  of  power  or  materials 
consumed.  The  method  is  open  to  the  same  kind 
of  dangers  as  payment  on  a  piece-work  basis,  and 
prejudice  against  it  can  be  overcome  only  by  the 
same  regard  for  the  maintenance  of  standard  rates 
irrespective  of  the  premiums  or  bonuses  allowed. 

In  the  remuneration  of  Labor,  the  fears  of  Capi- 
tal, Management,  and  the  Community  are  just  as 
important  a  consideration  as  those  of  Labor.  If 
productivity,  in  which  all  share,  is  to  be  increased 
through  improved  relations,  Capital,  Manage- 
ment and  the  Community,  as  well  as  Labor,  must 
have  their  faith  increased  through  the  elimination 
of  their  fears.  All  payment  based  on  the  principle 
of  "the  adjusted  incentive"  and  "the  differential 
treatment  of  varying  capacity,"  tends  in  this  di- 
rection. 

Labor  cost  is  only  one  element  in  the  total  pro- 
duction cost.  There  are  in  addition  the  cost  of 
premises  and  equipment,  including  plant,  power, 
tools,  and  machinery;  the  cost  of  maintenance, 
raw  materials,  and  supplies;  the  expenses  of  man- 
agement, including  superintendence  and  direction 
of  processes;  and  there  are  the  risks  of  various  kinds 


280  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

to  property  and  person  which  become  chargeable 
upon  Industry.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  "the 
differential  incentive,"  whilst  it  elicits  the  best 
efforts  of  each  man  by  paying  him  according  to 
value  of  output,  offers  no  incentive  to  him  to  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  the  whole  by  care  of  machin- 
ery, by  economy  of  power  or  raw  material.  It  may, 
through  the  effort  to  increase  his  own  output,  lead 
the  worker  to  be  extravagant  of  many  things.  If 
cost  of  production  is  to  be  kept  down,  something 
more  is  required  which  will  give  to  the  wage-earner 
a  direct  interest  in  the  success  of  the  undertaking  as  a 
whole.  Such  an  interest  limits  the  tendency  toward 
extravagance  in  the  use  of  the  property  of  others, 
and  has  the  advantage  of  reducing  the  need  and 
the  expense  of  supervision.  A  direct  interest  in 
the  success  of  an  undertaking  as  a  whole  is  to  the 
prevention  of  waste  in  production  what  a  knowl- 
edge of  industrial  processes  as  a  whole  is  to  intelli- 
gent and  sustained  effort. 

"A  thoroughly  effective  method  of  remunera- 
tion," says  Dr.  Shadwell,  "includes  both  princi- 
ples, (1)  the  differential  incentive,  which  acts  on 
the  individual  as  such;  and  (2)  profit-sharing, 
which  acts  on  him  in  his  collective  capacity,  as  a 
member  of  a  body  bound  together  by  common  in- 
terests and  working  for  a  common  end.  By  in- 
creasing the  efficiency  of  labor,  they  diminish  its 
cost,  and  so  increase  profits  though  wages  rise." 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK       281 

IV 

A  consideration  of  Profit-Sharing  connects  the 
study  of  Methods  of  Industrial  Remuneration  with 
the  study  of  Methods  of  Industrial  Organization 
and  Management,  and  Methods  of  Industrial  Gov- 
ernment. As  such  it  marks  a  convenient  point  of 
transition  from  the  one  to  the  other.  Inasmuch, 
however,  as  profits  have  to  be  made  before  they 
can  be  shared,  it  may  be  well,  before  attempting 
a  critical  analysis  of  the  merits  of  Profit-Sharing 
as  an  underlying  principle  of  work  involving  co- 
operative effort,  to  glance  at  certain  features  of 
Industrial  Organization  and  Management  which 
relate  mainly  to  production. 

In  reviewing  the  factors  which  make  for  effi- 
ciency through  the  freeing  of  effort  and  the  pre- 
vention of  waste,  certain  factors  will  be  seen  to 
contribute  primarily  to  the  remuneration  of  Labor, 
others  primarily  to  the  remuneration  of  Capital  and 
Management.  All  are  equally  important;  all  are, 
in  fact,  inseparable.  In  the  short  run,  some  fac- 
tors may  bring  immediate  and  relatively  greater 
advantage  to  Labor;  others,  immediate  and  rela- 
tively greater  advantage  to  Capital  and  Manage- 
ment. In  the  long  run,  however,  advantages 
gained  by  any  of  the  parties  to  production  can 
be  maintained  only  through  an  equitable  sharing 
of  their  benefits. 


282  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Foremost  among  factors  of  immediate  concern 
to  Capital  and  Management  are  the  use  of  Labor- 
Saving  Machinery,  and  the  adoption  of  what  is 
termed  "Scientific  Management,"  in  Industry. 
Both  operate  in  much  the  same  way;  both  are  ca- 
pable of  much  the  same  kind  of  service;  and  both 
are  open  to  the  same  kinds  of  objection  and  abuse. 

Labor-Saving  Machinery  frees  human  effort  by 
simplifying  industrial  processes,  by  lessening  the 
degree  of  skill  and  dexterity  demanded,  and  by 
enabling  the  same  amount  of  output  to  be  pro- 
duced with  a  less  expenditure  of  time  and  human 
energy.  Labor  which  otherwise  would  be  needed  to 
effect  the  original  amount  of  production  is  thereby 
set  free  for  additional  service  or  other  employment. 
Labor-saving  machinery  helps  to  reheve  Capital 
and  Management  of  many  of  the  uncertainties 
attendant  upon  a  limited  labor  supply.  In  articles 
which  lend  themselves  to  mechanical  treatment 
in  production,  it  makes  possible  a  uniformity  of 
design,  texture,  and  quality,  and  an  output  in 
quantity  wholly  unattainable  under  processes  re- 
quiring more  in  the  way  of  personal  attention  and 
service.  By  making  possible  a  larger  output  under 
like  expenditure  of  effort,  the  use  of  labor-saving 
machinery  not  only  yields  a  higher  return  on  capi- 
tal, but  renders  possible  a  larger  rate  of  remunera- 
tion to  all  the  parties  to  production. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        283 

It  would  seem  from  this  to  be  as  much  to  the 
interest  of  Labor  as  to  the  interest  of  Capital, 
Management,  and  the  Community  that,  wherever 
possible,  advantage  should  be  made  of  labor-saving 
machinery  and  devices,  and  their  use  encouraged, 
not  prevented.  And  yet  the  record  of  the  intro- 
duction of  labor-saving  machinery  into  industrial 
processes  by  Capital  and  Management  is  largely  a 
story  of  active,  and  often  violent,  opposition  on  the 
part  of  Labor.  The  explanation  of  this  opposition 
is  not  far  to  seek.  Unacquainted  with  the  processes 
of  Industry  as  a  whole,  and  seeing  only  the  part, 
and  that,  oftenest,  but  the  fractional  part  of  par- 
ticular processes  on  which  it  is  engaged,  Labor  sees 
in  devices  and  machinery  for  saving  labor,  some- 
thing sinister  so  far  as  its  immediate  employment  is 
concerned.  It  sees  itself  done  out  of  its  job,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  or  if  not  out  of  its  job,  out  of  its 
customary  wage  or  a  proportionate  share  in  the 
return  to  its  efTort  when  coupled  with  the  services 
of  the  machine.  It  sees,  too,  in  the  use  of  labor- 
saving  machinery,  means  whereby,  through  "  speed- 
ing up,"  a  larger  demand  can  be  made  upon  its  en- 
ergies for  the  same  reward.  Finally,  Labor  sees  in 
the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery  its  own 
status  reduced,  its  part  in  the  industrial  process 
rendered  more  and  more  mechanical,  and  its  scope 
for  initiative  and  development  restricted  instead  of 
widened.  Instead  of  experiencing  the  satisfactions 


284  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

which  flow  from  creative  and  original  work,  it  finds 
its  occupation  becoming  more  and  more  that  of 
*' policing"  and  tending  machines.  These  are  se- 
rious matters,  for  they  affect  not  only  the  means  of 
gaining  a  hvelihood,  but  also  the  self-respect,  char- 
acter, and  personahty  of  the  worker. 

Under  the  ruthless  stress  of  world-wide  compe- 
tition, employers  are  obliged  to  avail  themselves 
of  every  legitimate  advantage  offered.  Moreover, 
they  cannot  be  expected  to  be  responsible  for  the 
social  consequences  which  Invention  brings.  Their 
business  is  to  maintain  Industry  at  a  profit;  other- 
wise all  go  under,  instead  of  a  few.  How,  then,  are 
the  opposing  attitudes  of  Labor  and  Capital  to- 
ward Invention,  and  the  use  of  Invention,  to  be 
reconciled?  Clearly,  the  only  solution  is  to  be  found 
through  the  substitution  of  Faith  for  Fear  by  the 
elucidation  of  the  larger  view,  which  discloses,  in  the 
long  run,  not  opposed,  but  common  interests,  and 
which  stimulates  effort  toward  the  common  good. 

It  must  be  made  apparent  to  Labor,  in  the  first 
place,  that  material  progress  depends,  in  the  long 
run,  on  advantage  being  taken  of  all  that  makes  for 
increased  efficiency  in  Industry,  and  that  while 
some  degree  of  suffering  is  inevitable  in  all  change, 
the  greatest  good  for  the  greatest  number  is  hkely 
to  be  furthered  as  a  consequence  of  Invention. 
The  comparison  of  human  desire  to  the  Icgend- 
aiy  tree  which  rewarded  each  stroke  of  the  axe  by 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        285 

doubling  the  number  of  chips,  and  to  the  oil  in  the 
widow's  cruse  which  increased  as  drawn  upon  is 
wholly  to  the  point.  The  worker  must  be  enabled 
to  see  that  an  invention  which  reduces  labor  by 
half  may,  through  the  lowering  of  cost,  increase 
the  demand  for  output  manifold.  Labor  must  be 
helped  to  understand  that  the  quantity  of  work  to 
be  done  in  the  world,  or  in  any  part  of  it,  is  not 
limited  save  by  available  capital  and  community 
demand ;  and  that  both  available  capital  and  com- 
munity demand  are  likely  to  be  augmented  by 
whatever  enables  the  same  expenditure  of  time, 
capital,  and  human  effort  to  produce  commodities 
of  hke  quality  in  larger  quantities,  or  commodities 
of  hke  quantity  in  better  quality,  or  both.  Labor 
must  also  be  shown  wherein  labor-saving  devices 
relieve  work  of  much  of  its  drudgery,  and  save  the 
worker  strain  and  exhaustion,  thereby  preserving 
his  energies  for  the  fuller  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of 
his  labor.  The  additional  avenues  of  employment 
opened  by  the  necessary  manufacture  of  new  ma- 
chines, and  the  extra  skill  so  often  required  to 
cope  with  the  increased  complexity  of  machinery, 
are  further  compensating  features  of  which  ac- 
count should  be  taken. 

When  labor-saving  machinery  is  about  to  be  in- 
stalled, care  must  be  taken  to  see  that  Labor  under- 
stands its  significance  in  the  process  of  Industry 
as  a  whole,  and  that,  along  with  the  other  parties 


286  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

to  Industry,  Labor  is  permitted  to  share  on  a  just 
basis  in  the  larger  output  which  results  from  the 
increased  efficiency  labor-saving  machinery  brings. 
Care  must  be  taken  to  see  also  that  Labor  is  not 
robbed  of  a  part  of  the  fruits  of  its  efforts  through 
"speeding-up"  processes.  Where  there  is  actual 
displacement  of  Labor,  new  opportunities  of  em- 
ployment should  be  found  as  quickly  as  possible, 
and  provision  of  a  right  and  proper  kind  made  for 
Labor  that  is  displaced. 

The  view  that  Industry  is  really  in  the  nature  of 
social  service,  and,  as  a  consequence,  that  it  is  to 
the  advantage  of  society  to  have  efficiency  in  In- 
dustry furthered  to  the  uttermost,  clearly  places 
an  obligation  upon  the  Community  to  see  that  hard- 
ship is  not  suffered  by  human  beings  who,  through 
no  fault  of  their  own,  fmd  their  services  displaced, 
in  order  that  the  Community  may  profit.  So,  too, 
the  Community  must  seek  to  offset  the  "dehuman- 
izing" effects  of  mechanical  routine  by  having  re- 
gard for  working  hours  and  other  conditions  sur- 
rounding employment,  and  by  providing  increased 
opportunities  of  personal  development  within  and 
without  Industry.  It  is  surprising  how  much  may 
be  done  to  reconcile  Labor  to  sacrifices  demanded 
by  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery, 
by  regarding  Industry  as  a  social  institution,  and 
making  plain  to  Labor  the  measure  of  social  service 
it  is  capable  of  rendering.   Consciousness  of  the 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        287 

kind  means  both  increasing  the  inteUigence  of  La- 
bor, and  quickening  its  sense  of  responsibihty  for 
the  conduct  of  Industry  as  a  whole.  To  effect  this. 
Labor  must  be  taken  into  the  confidence  of  the  other 
parties  to  Industry.  Capital  and  Management  must 
explain  the  significance  and  bearings  of  all  proposed 
changes,  and  consider  their  social  and  economic 
consequences  sympathetically.  Agreement  must 
be  reached  as  to  the  rate  of  introduction  of  new  in- 
ventions, the  conditions  under  which  they  are  to 
be  worked,  and  the  rate  of  remuneration.  These 
are  matters  which  pertain  to  government  in  In- 
dustry. Upon  the  successful  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem of  government  in  Industry,  more  than  on  all 
else,  the  promotion  of  industrial  efficiency  depends. 

"Scientific  Management"  is  the  term  used  to  ex- 
press a  system  of  organization  in  Industry  whereby 
the  whole  routine,  down  to  the  smallest  detail,  is 
organized  by  the  management  acting  through  a 
staff  of  efficiency  experts.^  Such  a  system  lends  it- 
self, as  does  labor-saving  machinery,  to  an  increase 
in  output.  The  two  are  closely  alhed  in  many  re- 
spects :  the  one  is  actual  machinery,  nothing  more 
or  less;  the  other,  methods,  which  are  a  kind 
of  invisible  machinery.  By  increasing  efficiency 
through  expert  methods,  scientific  management 

^  Videiloxie,  Scientific  Management  and  Labor  (D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
New  York,  1916);  also  Bulletins  of  the  Taylor  Society,  a  Society  to 
Promote  the  Science  of  Management. 


288  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

lowers  the  cost  of  production.  It  helps  to  avoid 
confusion  and  overlapping  in  effort,  strain  and  ex- 
haustion on  the  part  of  the  worker,  and  waste  of 
time  and  materials  in  many  directions.  As  such  it 
is  not  only  profitable  but  highly  commendable  in 
the  interests  of  all  the  parties  to  production.  And 
yet  Labor  is  profoundly  suspicious  of  its  merits  and 
as  openly  hostile  to  its  introduction  in  Industry  as 
to  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  devices.  The 
reasons  are  obvious. 

The  objections  of  Labor  to  scientific  manage- 
ment and  to  the  use  of  labor-saving  machinery  are 
necessarily  much  the  same.  They  spring  from  the 
same  kinds  of  fears,  for  which  experience  has  af- 
forded ample  justification.  There  is,  in  the  case  of 
scientific  management,  as  in  the  case  of  the  intro- 
duction of  labor-saving  machinery,  the  fear  that 
while  wages  may  be  augmented,  the  rate  of  increase 
will  not  be  at  all  proportionate  to  the  gains  accru- 
ing to  Capital  and  Management.  This  fear  is  re- 
lated to  the  reward  of  effort.  It  is  less  substantial, 
however,  than  the  fear  of  change  in  the  status  of  the 
worker,  which  is  a  more  serious  thing.  By  carry- 
ing efficiency  to  the  last  point,  in  an  organization 
of  Industry  already  mechanically  subdivided  in  the 
minutest  way.  Labor  sees  itself  still  further  robbed 
of  the  chance  of  exercising  initiative  and  original- 
ity, and  of  developing  capacity  or  opportunity  for 
promotion  in  its  work. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        289 

With  the  development  of  the  vast  mechanism  of 
Industry  through  use  of  natural  powers,  Labor  has 
come  to  regard  itself  as  little  more  than  a  cog  in  a 
wheel.  In  the  refinements  of  organization  carried 
out  by  efficiency  experts,  Labor  sees  itself,  as  re- 
gards personality,  reduced  to  something  less  than 
a  cog.  A  natural  instinct  causes  revolt  against  a 
system  which  reduces  a  human  being  to  a  mere  au- 
tomaton, and  work  to  a  series  of  endless  repetitions 
of  some  mechanical  act.  The  monopoly  value  of 
special  skill  once  gone,  the  worker  sees  the  possibil- 
ity of  his  becoming  a  mere  atom  in  a  drifting  waste 
of  unemployed .  Obviously,  instincts  which  become 
roused  against  possibilities  of  the  kind  have  been 
developed  in  man  for  purposes  of  the  preservation 
of  his  manhood.  It  matters  not  how  dull  and  unin- 
telligible their  expression  may  be,  their  presence  in 
the  slightest  degree  is  evidence  of  what  may  be  left 
of  the  unquenchable  spark  of  the  god-hke.  Such 
instincts  cannot  be  regarded  with  too  great  rever- 
ence. 

There  is  a  point  at  which  all  things  may  be 
pressed  to  the  antithesis  of  what  they  are.  It  would 
be  unfortunate  for  the  good  to  Labor,  Capital, 
Management,  and  the  Community  which  scien- 
tific management,  moderately  practised  and  wisely 
conducted,  is  capable  of  producing,  were  the  abuse 
of  this  system  to  be  mistaken  for  its  use.  Orderly 
arrangement  is  the  first  of  all  essentials  to  co-oper- 


290  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ative  efTort,  and  all  that  is  best  in  scientific  man- 
agement is  little  more  than  getting  rid  of  confusion 
and  perfecting  adjustments.  This  is,  in  fact,  scien- 
tific management.  The  practice  that  carries  ad- 
justment to  the  point  that  it  unfits  human  beings 
for  further  adjustment  is  in  reality  unscientific,  and 
the  management  that  allows  such  a  practice  is  de- 
feating its  own  ends. 

To  simplify  tasks,  to  eliminate  superfluous  effort, 
to  prevent  fatigue  and  overstrain,  is  but  to  enhance 
capacity  for  work,  and  enjoyment  of  its  fruits  once 
the  hours  of  labor  are  over.  These  are  objectives, 
the  advantage  of  which  to  itself,  as  well  as  to  the 
other  parties  to  production,  Labor  will  be  the  first  to 
grasp.  But  an  objective  sometimes  requires  to  be 
explained.  Frequently  it  is  necessary  to  make  clear 
that  an  objective  means  just  what  it  purports  to 
mean,  nothing  more  and  nothing  less.  If  it  is  for 
the  good  of  all,  and  not  for  the  good  of  some  at  the 
expense  of  others,  then  all  should  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  understanding  the  process  in  relation  to 
their  own  lines,  and  to  the  processes  of  Industry  as 
a  whole. 

Where  co-operation  is  desired,  there  must  be  co- 
operation ;  not  a  one-sided  arrangement,  but  co-op- 
eration all  round.  To  remove  the  just  suspicions  of 
Labor,  and  to  attain  its  co-operation  in  the  intro- 
duction of  scientific  management,  Labor  must,  as 
in  the  case  of  labor-saving  machinery,  be  taken  into 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        291 

confidence;  it  must  be  shown  that,  in  relation  to  the 
new  method,  or  instrument,  or  whatever  it  may  be, 
its  interests  and  the  interests  of  the  other  parties  to 
production  are  common,  not  opposed;  that  what 
means  an  increase  of  profits  to  Capital  and  Man- 
agement and  increased  benefits  to  the  Community, 
means  also  an  increase  of  profit  to  Labor,  and  this 
in  fair  proportion.  Similarly,  Labor  must  have  its 
opportunity  to  point  out  wherein  a  practice  pre- 
senting apparent  immediate  advantages  may  in  the 
long  run  prove  baneful  and  injurious.  If  any  prac- 
tice proves  harmful  to  Labor  itself,  sooner  or  later, 
it  must  prove  harmful  to  all  the  other  parties  to  In- 
dustry. To  give  to  those  to  be  affected  by  scientific 
management  a  direct  interest  in  its  application,  and 
some  share  of  control  over  its  workings  is  to  help  to 
remove  unfounded  prejudice.  In  this  way  Faith  is 
accorded  the  place  formerly  occupied  by  Fear;  and 
a  system  which,  rightly  understood,  and  rightly 
applied,  is  of  advantage  to  all  concerned,  is  given  a 
chance  to  proceed  on  its  own  merits,  without  which 
it  were  better  not  to  proceed  at  all. 

In  estimating  the  factors  which  make  for  avoid- 
ance of  waste  and  freedom  of  effort,  where  the  serv- 
ices of  multitudes  of  individuals  have  to  be  com- 
bined, and  Industry  as  a  whole  has  to  be  organized, 
there  are  no  limits  to  wise  direction  and  skilful 
adjustment.  Consideration  has  already  been  given 


292  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

to  this  aspect  of  Management  in  its  relation  to  in- 
dustrial efficiency  in  dealing  with  the  parties  to 
Industry,  and  also  in  treating  of  the  principles  un- 
derlying Peace.  Still  further  consideration  will  be 
given  the  same  subject  in  dealing  with  the  princi- 
ples underlying  Health,  because  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  efTiciency  is  at  the  basis  of  all  efficiency 
in  Industry,  and  their  enjoyment  is  the  supreme 
end  of  Industry  itself. 

This  is,  perhaps,  a  convenient  place  to  empha- 
size further  the  inevitable  relation  of  sound  man- 
agement to  a  knowledge  of  human  nature.  Per- 
sonnel management  is  a  staff  function  comparable 
to  the  sales,  financial,  and  producing  functions,  i 
Keeping  in  mind  the  importance  of  understanding 
human  nature  in  all  that  pertains  to  management, 
consideration  of  profit-sharing  as  a  method  of  in- 
dustrial organization,  as  well  as  of  industrial  re- 
muneration, may  be  resumed. 


In  its  most  complete  form.  Profit-sharing  de- 
velops into  self-governing  workshops  of  which  the 
workers  are  sole  proprietors,  and  in  which  all  are 
on  an  equal  footing.  The  introduction  of  profit- 
sharing,  notwithstanding,  is  as  much  feared,  and  as 

*  Vide  Sidney  Webb,    The  Works  Manager  Today,  New  York, 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  1918. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        293 

intuitively  disliked,  by  Labor,  as  is  the  introduction 
of  labor-saving  machinery  and  scientific  manage- 
ment. Here,  again,  it  is  not  theory  that  is  at  fault, 
but  practice.  Much  that  is  called  profit-sharing 
is  not  profit-sharing  at  all.  Much  that  would  be 
profit-sharing,  were  the  principle  on  which  it 
is  based  rightly  maintained,  is  transformed  into 
profit-stealing,  because  the  principle  is  falsified 
through  the  cupidity  of  avaricious  employers.  La- 
bor finds  it  difficult  to  reconcile  a  theory  that  is 
fair  with  practice  that,  at  times,  has  been  full  of 
meanness. 

As  the  term  "profit-sharing"  is  generally  used,  it 
means  the  distribution  among  wage-earners  of  part 
of  the  net  profits  of  an  undertaldng.  Where  the 
rate  of  return  at  which  Labor  is  rewarded  in  the 
first  instance  is  the  standard  rate,  so  that  the  share 
which  Labor  receives  from  the  net  profits  is  in  no 
sense  a  restoration,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  the  wages 
it  should  have  received  before  net  profits  were  esti- 
mated, the  objection  of  Labor  to  this  method  of  re- 
warding effort  is  in  large  measure  removed.  Often, 
however,  in  estimating  net  profits.  Capital  and 
Management  are  tempted  to  regard  the  remunera- 
tion of  Labor  as  an  item  in  the  cost  of  production  to 
be  kept  as  low  as  possible.  It  is  hard  for  Labor  to 
beheve  that  this  is  not  what  is  generally  done,  and 
to  understand  why,  if  extra  payments  are  available 
in  the  form  of  dividends  out  of  net  earnings,  they 


294  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

should  not  be  as  readily  available  in  the  form  of 
higher  wages  at  the  outset. 

To  have  Labor  appreciate  the  principle  on  which 
profit-sharing,  in  the  true  meaning  of  the  term,  is 
based,  it  is  necessary,  as  with  the  introduction  of 
labor-saving  machinery  and  scientific  management, 
to  substitute  Faith  for  Fear  by  rendering  apparent 
to  Labor  the  interest  which  Labor,  along  with  Cap- 
ital and  Management,  has  in  the  business  as  a 
whole,  and  the  part  which  efficiency  plays  toward 
increasing  the  output.  Where,  through  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  principle,  and  misuse  of  the  prac- 
tice, this  interest  is  not  consciously  present.  Labor 
is  almost  certain  to  regard  the  many  different  forms 
of  profit-sharing,  gain-sharing,  prosperity-sharing, 
bonus,  premiums,  and  the  like,  as  alternatives  to 
wages,  or  as  acts  of  benevolence  made  possible 
through  its  own  efforts  in  the  first  instance,  or  as  a 
means  of  reconciling  the  recipients  with  otherwise 
unsatisfactory  conditions,  or  with  the  denial  of 
rights  and  privileges  shared  by  Labor  elsewhere. 

It  may  be  admitted  at  once  that  Labor's  fears 
concerning  profit-sharing  have  found  justification 
in  actual  experience.  Wages,  in  some  instances, 
have  been  kept  within  a  narrow  margin,  to  be  sup- 
plemented by  the  share  of  profit  which  Labor  has 
subsequently  received,  or  have  been  cut  in  conse- 
quence of  the  better  showing  profit-sharing  has 
occasioned. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        295 

Workers  have  been  made  to  feel  that  the  shares 
or  "allowances"  or  "bonuses"  which  they  have  re- 
ceived have  been  a  part  of  the  employer's  benev- 
olence rather  than  a  part  of  earnings  to  which  they 
were  justly  entitled.  But  this  is  a  kind  of  fear  that 
may  be  readily  overcome.  Where  standard  rates 
of  wages  prevail  in  particular  industries,  the  firm 
that  accepts  the  standard  rate  as  a  basis  of  wage 
payment  in  the  first  instance,  and  adheres  to  the 
practice,  will  soon  overcome  prejudice  on  this  score. 

Especially  through  the  attitude,  either  expressed 
or  implied,  that  profit-sharing  is  a  substitute  for 
membership  in  a  trade  union,  has  reason  been  af- 
forded for  opposition  to  profit-sharing  by  Organ- 
ized Labor.  But  this,  too,  is  a  source  of  fear  which 
need  not  offer  an  insuperable  difficulty.  Once  the 
condition  is  expressed  that  the  plan  of  profit-shar- 
ing adopted  is  apart  altogether  from  any  condi- 
tions respecting  membership  or  non-membership 
in  a  union,  the  substance  of  this  fear  is  dispelled. 

Even  where  such  a  condition  or  suspicion  does  not 
exist,  there  is  yet  another  ground  on  which  Organ- 
ized Labor  fears  profit-sharing.  Trade-union  effort 
to  raise  the  status  of  Labor  seeks  reinforcement  from 
a  growing  belief  among  workers  in  the  sohdarity  of 
Labor.  Whatever  tends  to  weaken  or  destroy  the 
class  interest  is  apt  to  be  viewed  with  misgivings  as 
likely  to  lessen  the  possible  power  of  organization 
as  a  whole.  Profit-sharing,  in  some  instances,  has 


296  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

had  this  efTect  upon  wage-earners  who  have  partici- 
pated in  it.  That  class  consciousness  may  diminish 
as  profit-sharing  extends  is  naturally  anticipated. 
When,  however,  it  is  asked  what  aim  trade-union- 
ism has,  other  than  that  of  raising  the  status  of 
Labor,  it  would  seem  that  a  practice  which  helps  to 
effect  this  aim  should  be  welcomed  as  an  ally  by 
Organized  Labor,  not  feared  as  an  undermining 
influence. 

Broadly  speaking.  Labor  is  ready  enough  to  ap- 
preciate an  ally  where  there  is  cause  to  believe'  in 
its  worth  and  enduring  fidelity.  It  is  not  surpris- 
ing, therefore,  to  find  that,  where  the  result  of 
profit-sharing  is  genuinely  such  as  to  improve  the 
status,  and  not  merely  the  temporary  earnings,  of 
workingmen.  Labor's  opposition  to  profit-sharing 
has  not  only  been  silenced,  but  profit-sharing  has 
found  some  of  its  strongest  advocates  in  the  ranks 
of  trade  unionists.  It  is  in  the  form  of  what  is 
termed  co-partnership  that  profit-sharing  has  won 
this  larger  measure  of  confidence.^ 

Some  authorities  contend  that  only  co-partner- 
ship is  deservingly  entitled  to  be  called  profit-shar- 
ing. Like  most  other  forms  of  industrial  remun- 
eration and  industrial  organization,  there  are,  as 

^  Vide  Aneurin  Williams,  Co-Partnership  and Profd-Sharing  (Home 
University  Library,  London);  also  Price,  Co-Operalion  and  Co-Part- 
nership (The  Nation's  Library,  London),  reference  to  both  of  which 
sources  is  hereby  acknowledged. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        297 

respects  co-partnership,  degrees  and  variations  that 
pass  more  or  less  imperceptibly  from  one  to  the 
other.  What  broadly  distinguishes  co-partnership 
is  that,  besides  entitUng  the  workers  to  a  share  in 
the  profits  earned,  on  the  basis  of  the  wages  earned, 
it  involves  also,  on  the  part  of  the  workers,  a  share 
in  the  capital,  and  in  the  responsibility  and  control 
of  the  business  as  well.  The  extent  of  the  owner- 
ship of  capital,  and  of  the  control,  varies  considera- 
bly. The  ownership  of  capital  may  be  confined  to  a 
single  share  on  the  part  of  a  limited  number  of  the 
workers ;  and  the  control,  to  a  voice  in  the  election 
of  a  director.  Control  may  extend  to  a  complete 
ownership  of  all  the  capital  of  a  business  and  ex- 
clusive direction  of  its  affairs.  In  such  a  case,  it  is 
identical  with  the  self-governing  work-shops  which 
were  the  ideal  of  John  Stuart  Mill  and  the  early 
Christian  Sociahsts. 

Co-partnership,  according  to  what  might  be 
termed  standard  practice,  means  that  after  Labor 
and  Capital  in  a  business  have  each  received  a  re- 
turn in  accordance  with  the  accepted  or  prevailing 
rates,  and  other  items  of  the  cost  of  production 
have  been  duly  cared  for,  an  additional  sum  is  paid 
out  of  the  excess  of  profits  to  Capital  on  a  percent- 
age basis  in  accordance  with  the  amount  invested, 
and  to  Labor  also  on  a  percentage  basis,  usually  of 
equal  rate,  on  wages  earned.  Instead,  however,  of 
the  additional  payment  to  Labor  being  in  the  form 


298  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

of  cash,  it  is  made  in  the  form  of  the  acquisition,  or 
payment  on  account,  of  shares  on  which  interest  be- 
comes payable  at  the  same  rate  or  at  a  rate  differing 
somewhat  from  that  payable  on  original  shares.  As 
shareholders,  the  workers  become  entitled  to  elect 
members  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  or  committee 
of  management,  though  they  remain  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  management  as  regards  disciphne 
and  the  discharge  of  their  duties  as  wage-earners. 
Real  co-partnership  always  involves  not  only  a 
share  in  the  property,  but  a  voice  in  the  manage- 
ment. This  does  not  mean  interference  in  the  man- 
agement, a  right  which  no  shareholder  possesses; 
but  it  does  mean  representation  on  the  Board  of 
Directors,  while  leaving  wages  intact. 

In  England,  Labor  co-partnership  is  being  exten- 
sively practised  in  connection  with  certain  of  the 
gas  companies,  conspicuous  among  the  number  be- 
ing the  South  Metropolitan  Gas  Company  of  Lon- 
don, where  it  was  introduced  in  1886,  first  among 
officers  and  foremen,  and,  three  years  later,  ex- 
tended to  employees  generally.  The  Wholesale 
Productive  Co-operative  Societies  of  Scotland,  or, 
as  they  are  termed,  "The  Scottish  Wholesale  Socie- 
ties," are  also  conducted  on  the  basis  of  paying  to 
Labor,  in  addition  to  its  earnings,  a  dividend  in  the 
form  of  interest-bearing  shares,  which  entitle  their 
owners  to  a  voice  in  the  selection  of  directors. 

A  new  feature  comes  into  evidence  in  connec- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        299 

tion  with  the  Wholesale  Societies  which  widens  the 
scope  of  co-partnership.  The  Consumer  appears  as 
another  factor  entitled  to  share  in  the  net  profits. 
He  receives,  jointly  with  Labor  and  Capital,  a  divi- 
dend from  profits  in  the  form  of  shares.  The  divi- 
dend is  based  on  amount  of  purchases;  the  shares 
bear  interest  and  entitle  their  owners  to  a  voice  in 
the  control  of  the  business.  This,  again,  does  not 
mean  interference  with  management,  but  repre- 
sentation on  the  Board  of  Directors  while  leaving 
prices  intact.  The  customers  in  the  case  of  the 
Scottish  Wholesale  Productive  Societies  are  for  the 
most  part  the  Retail  Co-operative  Stores,  which 
provide  a  known  and  certain  market.  The  princi- 
ple of  giving  to  all  concerned  a  direct  interest  in  the 
success  of  the  undertaking  as  a  whole,  through  the 
holding  of  shares  and  some  element  of  control,  is 
the  significant  factor  in  co-partnership. 

All  profit-sharing  is  a  form  of  co-partnership, 
and  all  co-partnership  is  a  form  of  co-operation. 
There  is  no  fundamental  distinction  between  the 
two,  only  a  difference  of  degree.  Properly  carried 
out,  profit-sharing  merges  automatically  into  co- 
partnership, and  co-partnership  automatically  into 
complete  co-operation.  But  just  as,  in  the  course 
of  development,  co-partnership  has  come  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  profit-sharing  in  other  forms,  so  co- 
partnership may  be  distinguished  from  what"  is  gen- 
erally signified  in  speaking  of  co-operation,  which 


300  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

does  not  necessarily  accord  to  the  workers  a  share 
in  the  ownership  of  the  capital,  or  a  voice  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  business,  but  restricts  these  privi- 
leges to  consumers. 

Some  advocates  of  co-operation  would  confine  its 
operation  in  practice  to  limiting  the  sharing  of  the 
dividend  to  Capital  and  Consumers.  This  is  what 
is  referred  to  as  "the  Rochdale  Plan"  of  Distribu- 
tive Co-operation,  and  is  the  method  of  the  English 
Retail  Co-operative  Societies,  which  are  virtually 
owned  and  controlled  by  the  large  body  of  con- 
sumers who  have  obtained  shares  on  the  basis  of 
their  purchases,  but  which  exclude  from  this  right 
the  workers  in  the  business. 

With  respect  to  Co-operation,  as  with  all  else, 
experience  has  been  helpful  in  demonstrating  that 
the  application  of  principles  necessarily  varies  with 
circumstances  and  the  genius  of  a  people.  Self- 
governing  workshops,  which  to  the  originators  of 
the  movement  seemed  to  represent  its  ideal  devel- 
opment, have  not  to  any  extent  increased  in  num- 
bers or  importance  over  a  long  series  of  years.  This 
has  not  been  because  the  principle  underlying  co- 
operation is  not  a  good  one,  but  because  in  practice 
its  application  by  workingmen  has  been  attended 
with  difficulties  its  advocates  did  not  foresee,  or 
the  force  of  which  they  failed  to  take  account  of 
sufiiciently. 

Under  world-wide  competition  in  Industry  and 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK        301 

Commerce,  there  is  the  necessity  of  operations  be- 
ing conducted  on  a  large  scale.  This  involves  large 
initial  outlays  of  capital,  and  a  high  order  of  skill  in 
organization  and  management.  Neither  capital  nor 
exceptional  ability  are  readily  obtainable  by  Labor 
where  it  seeks  to  confine  the  ownership  and  control 
of  business  to  its  own  class.  Often  successful  at  the 
outset,  co-operative  undertakings  frequently  be- 
come thwarted,  either  through  an  unwillingness  on 
the  part  of  the  workers  as  a  body  to  remunerate 
ability  at  the  rate  which  it  readily  commands  in  the 
open  market,  or  through  unwillingness  to  submit  at 
the  hands  of  their  fellows  to  the  discipline  which 
is  essential  to  the  successful  management  of  any 
large  undertaking.  Moreover,  among  any  consider- 
able body  of  workmen,  assertion  of  individuality 
is  sure  to  arise  and  demand  "the  differential  treat- 
ment of  varying  capacity." 

Co-partnership  has  been  most  successful  where  a 
market  has  been  more  or  less  definitely  assured,  and 
where  the  industry  has  been  in  the  nature  of  a 
monopoly.  Co-operation  in  distribution  has  had  a 
considerable  growth  where  consumers  in  large  num- 
bers, feeling  the  pressure  of  economic  necessity, 
have  had  an  inducement  to  save,  sufficiently  strong 
to  guarantee  their  patronage  of  particular  concerns, 
and  sufficiently  large  to  ensure  appreciable  returns. 
In  the  case  of  one  and  all,  the  spirit  has  been  the 
really  vital  factor.    Co-operation,  in  its  different 


302  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

forms,  where  it  has  not  been  a  reUgion  with  its  pro- 
moters, has  had  the  inspiration  of  the  gospel  of 
human  brotherhood  as  its  high  incentive.  Its  suc- 
cess has  demonstrated  that  there  is  no  inherent  con- 
flict between  business  on  a  large  scale  and  Christian 
principle;  rather  has  it  proven  that  as  a  guiding 
motive,  Christian  principle  has  more  in  it  of  true 
democracy  than  any  other. 

Labor's  suspicion  of  the  very  thing  that  in  the 
long  run  is  most  in  the  interest  of  Labor  comes  as  a 
surprise  to  the  student  of  industrial  efTiciency.  It  is 
a  fact,  nevertheless,  and  one  which  cannot  be  ig- 
nored. As  we  have  seen,  it  matters  not  whether  it 
be  piece-wage  payment,  labor-saving  machinery, 
scientific  management,  or  profit-sharing,  the  intro- 
duction of  any  one  or  other  of  these  methods  of 
promoting  industrial  efficiency  invariably  begets 
some  suspicion,  and  sometimes  active  resistance. 
This  cannot  be  put  down  to  mere  ignorance  or 
obstinacy  on  the  part  of  Labor.  Much  of  Labor's 
incredulity,  as  pointed  out,  is  due  to  deception  for 
which  Capital  and  Management  are  wholly  respon- 
sible. In  part,  it  is  instinct  safeguarding  man- 
hood. In  the  main,  however,  it  is  in  the  nature  of 
reaction  against  change,  common  enough  to  all 
classes,  where  the  purposes  of  change  are  misun- 
derstood and  its  consequences  unforeseen. 

To  reconcile  Labor  to  innovations  and  to  effici- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  WORK       303 

ency  methods  of  one  kind  or  another;  and  to  win 
Labor's  co-operation  with  the  other  parties  to  In- 
dustry, in  an  endeavor  to  further  to  the  utmost  a 
common  aim,  two  things  are  necessary.  Labor 
must  be  given  an  understanding  of  industrial  proc- 
esses as  a  whole,  and  also  a  direct  interest  in  the 
success  of  undertakings  as  a  whole.  A  common 
knowledge  and  a  common  interest  are  essential  to 
call  forth  the  highest  effort  toward  a  common  end. 
Moreover,  since  Industry  implies  co-operative  ef- 
fort, regard  must  be  had  for  men  in  their  collective 
capacity.  To  concede  to  Labor  collectively  some 
element  of  control,  as  respects  both  industrial  con- 
ditions and  industrial  rewards,  is  necessary  to  af- 
ford a  common  knowledge  and  a  common  interest. 
Control  is  a  matter  of  government.  Therefore,  to 
give  due  effect  to  principles  underlying  Work,  as 
well  as  to  principles  underlying  Peace  and  Health, 
there  must  be  some  understanding  of  the  methods 
of  government  in  Industry  whereby  functions  are 
easiest  co-ordinated,  and  principles  most  effectively 
apphed.  Before,  however,  passing  to  a  considera- 
tion of  methods  of  government  in  Industry,  it  may 
be  well  to  conclude  the  study  of  the  Law  of  Peace, 
Work,  and  Health,  by  a  glance  at  some  of  the  prin- 
ciples underlying  Health. 


CHAPTER  IX 
PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH 

Health  denotes  physical,  mental,  and  moral  well- 
being.  As  such,  it  is  the  basis  of  efficiency,  and  lies 
at  the  very  foundations  of  Industry  and  Society. 
Labor's  long  and  persistent  struggle  for  improved 
industrial  conditions  is  but  the  outcome  of  a  crav- 
ing common  to  all  for  a  better,  happier  human  lot. 
It  is  the  expression  of  a  desire  for  the  enjoyment  of 
normal  Hfe,  and  cannot  be  rightly  understood  apart 
from  the  aspirations  of  the  human  spirit.  Demands 
for  higher  wages,  shorter  hours,  proper  working 
conditions,  greater  independence,  are  not  to  be  in- 
terpreted as  necessarily  sordid  and  selfish.  Most 
frequently  they  are  in  the  nature  of  wholesome  pro- 
tests against  both  sordidness  and  selfishness.  Labor 
has  felt  its  finer  sensibilities  blighted  and  crushed 
under  the  tyranny  of  excessive  toil  and  brutalizing 
environments.  For  generations,  it  has  been  "ill- 
paid,  ill-housed,  ill-nurtured,  ill-taught."  Under 
circumstances  considerably  improved,  it  has  come 
to  recognize  that  man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone. 
The  voice  that  is  heard  above  the  din  and  con- 
fusion of  the  world  to-day  is  that  of  Labor  demand- 
ing a  fuller  and  a  freer  life.  ' 
Fundamental  concepts  in  industrial  relations  find 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH     305 

conspicuous  illustration  in  considerations  which 
pertain  to  the  health  of  workers  in  Industry.  In 
speaking  of  the  principles  underlying  Health,  it 
seems  more  natural,  than  in  the  case  of  peace  and 
work,  to  shift  the  emphasis  from  the  sacredness  of 
possession  to  the  sacredness  of  hfe;  to  weigh  against 
each  other  the  relative  values  of  personality  and 
its  rights,  and  property  and  its  rights;  to  compare 
standards  of  living  with  standards  of  trade;  and  to 
contrast  human  resources  with  material  resources. 
It  is  easier  also  to  recognize  Industry  as  a  public 
service,  and  to  divert  attention  from  individual  self- 
interest  to  community  well-being.  Little  is  required 
to  demonstrate  the  interdependence  of  health  and 
efficiency,  of  industrial  economy  and  social  welfare; 
or  the  inevitable  bearing  of  existing  conditions 
upon  posterity  and  progress. 

Industrial  peace  and  industrial  efficiency  are 
more  often  a  matter  of  conditions  affecting  the 
health  and  sense  of  justice  of  workers  in  Industry, 
than  anything  else.  ConciUation,  Mediation,  and 
Arbitration  presuppose  the  need  of  adjustment. 
Where  this  need  arises  from  conditions  that  are 
fundamentally  wrong,  nothing  but  a  change  of  the 
conditions  themselves  will  ensure  industrial  peace. 
Harmony  on  the  surface,  where  there  is  just  cause 
for  discord  beneath,  is  good  neither  for  Industry 
nor  for  the  Community.  That  is  why  Investigation 
is  so  important.  It  plumbs  the  depths.   It  reaches 


306  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

down  into  conditions  as  they  are,  not  as  they  ap- 
pear. It  is  as  bearing  upon  the  health  of  workers, 
and  unfairness  of  conditions,  that  appeals  are  made 
in  the  name  of  social  justice,  and  sympathy  is  sought 
for  issues  which  underlie  industrial  strife.  Strikes 
and  lockouts  have  had  mostly  to  do  with  working 
conditions  related  immediately  or  remotely  to  the 
physical  and  moral  well-being  of  workers  in  Indus- 
try. Organization  of  Labor  is  avowedly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  to  Labor  some  control  overworking 
conditions.  It  directly  combats  the  view  that,  as 
respects  conditions,  the  employer's  will  is  neces- 
sarily law,  and  the  sole  determining  factor. 

Once  it  is  seen  that  industrial  peace  and  effi- 
ciency depend,  in  the  last  analysis,  on  industrial 
conditions,  and  it  is  realized  that  industrial  condi- 
tions are  the  resultant  of  many  causes,  of  which  In- 
dustry itself  is  but  one  contributing  factor,  the  onus 
of  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  efTiciency  will  be 
seen  to  lie  not  less  upon  the  whole  Community  than 
upon  the  immediate  parties  to  Industry.  "The 
law  runneth  forward  and  back.'*  Whether  it  be 
Industry  in  its  relations  to  the  Community,  or  the 
Community  in  its  relations  to  Industry,  there  re- 
mains the  imperative  need  of  establishing  and 
maintaining  standards  of  working  conditions  which 
will  have  regard  for  the  perils  incident  to  modern 
Industry,  and  for  the  necessities  of  human  existence. 

We  may  thank  community  growth  for  the  devel- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      307 

opment  of  a  community  sense.  As  communities  in- 
crease in  size  and  density,  their  activities  become 
increasingly  inter-related  and  interdependent.  Im- 
pulses which  ordinarily  stand  in  direct  opposition 
to  each  other  are  brought  into  co-operative  accord. 
Sooner  or  later,  the  point  is  reached  where  self-in- 
terest combines  with  humanitarian  motives  in  the 
pursuit  of  altruistic  ends.  The  common  good  comes 
of  necessity  to  be  the  common  concern.  Organized 
elTort  in  the  control  of  health  is  due  to  a  desire  to 
protect  the  strong  as  well  as  the  weak.  The  point 
of  view  of  obligation  toward  social  and  industrial 
conditions  necessarily  shifts  from  an  individualistic 
attitude  to  one  of  collective  responsibility,  and 
an  organic  view  of  society.  Like  the  principles 
underlying  Peace  and  Work,  the  principles  which 
underlie  Health  are  expressive  of  this  attitude  of 
belief  in  common  as  contrasted  with  opposed  in- 
terests. They  necessarily  reveal  a  spirit  of  mutual 
consideration  and  constructive  good-will.  In  like 
manner,  they  evidence  discernment  between  hu- 
man and  material  values,  and  are  founded  upon 
the  recognition  of  personality. 

Nor  is  Health  less  closely  related,  than  Peace  and 
Work,  to  Faith  and  Fear.  Health  is  shrivelled  by 
fear;  it  expands  with  faith.  Consciousness  of  well- 
being  comes  through  a  sense  of  freedom  born  of  the 
elimination  of  fear.  In  industrial  and  international 
relations,  the  principles  which  underhe  Health  are 


308  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

those  rules  of  conduct  and  methods  of  organization 
which  beget  a  sense  of  freedom  in  well-being  by  the 
elimination  of  fear  and  the  estabhshment  of  faith 
between  individuals  and  their  personal  and  ma- 
terial environments. 


As  concerns  the  conservation  of  health  and  life, 
the  consequences  to  the  Community  and  to  Indus- 
try are  much  the  same  where  loss,  impairment,  or 
decay  comes  as  the  result  of  inimical  conditions, 
in  the  one  or  in  the  other.  The  prevention  of  acci- 
dents, the  control  of  disease,  the  safeguarding  of 
physical  and  mental  energy,  in  Industry,  and  in 
activities  of  the  Community  apart  from  Industry, 
are  essential  in  the  interests  of  both.  A  nation's 
population  is  its  first  asset.  If  from  any  cause  a 
country's  population  be  reduced  in  numbers  -or  vi- 
tality, its  strength  relatively  is  weakened.  If  men 
are  drafted  for  the  army,  they  must  be  taken  in 
large  part  from  Industry;  if  killed,  wounded,  or  en- 
feebled, Industry  suffers.  If,  in  Industry,  human 
hfe  is  destroyed  or  impaired,  the  nation's  man 
power  is  thereby  lessened.  If  unsanitary  surround- 
ings and  congested  industrial  areas  breed  disease 
and  spread  contagion  and  infection,  no  distinction 
of  either  person  or  class  is  respected.  No  service  to 
the  Community  or  to  Industry  can  be  greater  than 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH     309 

that  which  contributes  to  the  prevention  of  acci- 
dent and  disease,  or  any  form  of  impainnent  of 
health  and  efficiency.  In  a  multitude  of  untold 
ways  and  directions,  all  such  service  is  twice 
blessed:  it  conserves  the  ability  to  serve,  and  it 
conserves  the  capacity  to  enjoy. 

Fear  is  most  in  evidence  where  there  is  danger  of 
loss  of  hfe  or  impairment  of  health  through  accident 
or  disease.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  find 
that  measures  to  ensure  immunity  from  these 
causes  have  been  recognized  long  since  as  essential 
to  community  well-being.  Pubhc  safety  and  public 
health  are  everywhere  promoted  by  the  fixation  of 
standards,  enforced  by  voluntary  and  public  agen- 
cies of  a  municipal,  state,  national,  and  interna- 
tional character.  The  work  of  administration,  co- 
operation, investigation,  and  education  on  the  part 
of  these  agencies,  whilst  primarily  in  the  interests 
of  the  Community,  is  nevertheless  in  the  nature  of 
a  direct  contribution  by  the  Community  to  Indus- 
try. Whatever  avoids  the  loss  of  hfe  and  limb, 
or  prevents,  controls,  or  eradicates  disease,  is  not 
only  of  benefit  to  the  Community  as  a  whole,  but 
in  a  special  way  increases  productive  power,  and 
thereby  the  ability  of  investors  to  earn  profits  and 
workingmen  to  earn  wages. 

All  voluntary  and  public  effort  to  promote 
safety,  sanitation,  and  hygiene,  to  prevent  acci- 
dent, to  destroy  infection  and  contagion,  whether 


310  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

it  be  related  to  proper  water  supply,  to  sewage  dis- 
posal, to  pure  food,  to  proper  housing,  ventilation, 
lighting,  and  recreation,  to  medical  supervision,  or 
to  any  other  form  of  social  control  in  the  interest  of 
safety  and  health,  may  very  properly  be  viewed  in 
the  light  of  service  rendered  Industry  by  the  Com- 
munity for  which  the  Community  has  a  right  to 
expect  service  of  Uke  kind  on  the  part  of  Industry. 
Instead  of  proper  standards  of  working  conditions 
in  Industry  being  viewed  as  a  concession  by  Capital 
to  Labor,  they  should  be  regarded  as  at  least  the 
necessary  complement  of  those  measures  of  public 
safety  and  public  health  which  are  primarily  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Community  as  a  whole,  and  which 
are  also  of  direct  and  immediate  benefit  to  Capital 
and  Management. 

"Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  exist  con- 
cerning the  degree  of  prudent  regulation  in  Indus- 
try, there  are  extremes  in  conditions  which  leave  no 
room  for  doubt  as  to  the  need  of  some  action.  The 
first  of  such  conditions  to  be  recognized  were  obvi- 
ous injury  to  health,  and  to  life  and  hmb,  through 
the  employment  of  children,  young  persons,  and 
women  for  long  hours  and  in  unsuitable  occupa- 
tions, and  employment  of  persons  of  all  classes  in 
dangerous  and  unguarded  positions. 

Before  the  ruthless  and  devastating  nature  of 
unrestricted  competition  became  apparent,  the 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      311 

health  of  women  and  children  was  mercilessly  sac- 
rificed to  the  greed  of  employers  whose  avarice  was 
whetted  by  the  opportunity  of  vast  gains  afforded 
by  the  introduction  of  machinery,  and  the  use  of 
material  powers  in  Industry.  Government  com- 
missions exposed  the  horrors  of  the  situation,  and 
the  early  factories  and  mines  acts,  designed  pri- 
marily to  protect  child  and  female  labor,  were  the 
result.  Laws  against  combinations  of  workingmen 
were  maintained  upon  the  statutes  to  serve  the 
interests  of  selfish  employers,  who  also  protested 
against  state  interference  of  any  kind  on  behalf  of 
adult  males,  on  the  theory  that  men  were  well  able 
to  protect  themselves  But  the  injustice,  as  well  as 
the  impossibihty,  of  prohibiting  associated  effort 
on  the  part  of  Labor  soon  became  apparent,  as  did 
also  the  inability  of  adult  Labor,  whether  organ- 
ized or  not,  to  protect  itself  against  the  dangers 
of  vast  mechanical  development.  In  the  course  of 
time,  the  protection  of  life  and  Umb  by  legislation 
aimed  at  the  prevention  of  accident,  irrespective  of 
sex  or  age,  came  to  be  recognized  as  imperative. 

At  length  it  was  discovered  that,  as  a  cause  of 
industrial  inefficiency,  disease  was  vastly  more  se- 
rious than  accident;  and  public  authority  was  ex- 
tended, from  dangerous  callings  and  the  safeguard- 
ing of  life  and  limb,  to  unwholesome  occupations 
and  the  protection  of  the  health  of  workers.  From 
insecure  and  unwholesome  occupations,  state  in- 


312  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

terfercnce  passed  to  unsafe  and  unsanitary  sur- 
roundings, to  be  supplemented  by  legislation  re- 
lating primarily  to  education  and  subsistence.  To 
this  class  of  legislation  belong  the  Truck  Acts,  the 
PubUc  Health,  Housing  and  Education  Acts,  the 
IVIinimum  Wage  Acts,  in  England,  and  similar  en- 
actments in  America.  All  share  in  common  the  aim 
of  protecting  the  standard  of  hfe  against  degrada- 
tion. It  is  evident  that  this  aim  underlies  com- 
prehensive programmes  of  national  reconstruction 
now  being  formulated  in  different  countries,  of 
which  transportation,  housing,  health,  education, 
and  government  in  Industry  constitute  outstand- 
ing features. 

Where  a  minimum  standard  of  maintenance  is  to 
be  assured,  the  cost  of  living,  the  relation  of  wages 
and  prices,  the  quality  as  well  as  the  quantity  of 
commodities,  require  attention.  Hence  there  has 
arisen  the  enactment  also  of  laws  pertaining  to  the 
restraint  of  trade,  to  unjust  combinations,  to  the 
regulation  of  rates  and  prices,  and  to  the  adulter- 
ation of  foods.  Last  of  all,  has  come  recognition,  as 
well,  of  varied  social,  intellectual,  and  aesthetic  re- 
quirements. Communities  are  learning  that  a  pre- 
scribed minimum  of  leisure,  recreation,  education, 
and  subsistence  is  essential  to  health  and  efficiency, 
and  that  the  establishment  of  such  a  minimum  is 
a  necessary  foundation  of  human  well-being.  The 
maintenance  of  a  higher  general  standard  of  life  by 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      313 

the  extension  and  unification  of  liberal  labor  laws, 
as  well  as  by  their  rigid  enforcement,  is  demanded 
not  more  by  justice  and  humanity  than  by  economic 
necessity  and  industrial  efTiciency. 

Even  in  countries  which  enjoy  the  reputation  of 
having  advanced  codes  of  labor  laws,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  extreme  conditions  no  longer  exist, 
or  that  the  maintenance  of  labor  standards  does  not 
require  the  utmost  vigilance.  There  is,  for  example, 
greater  unanimity  of  opinion  as  concerns  the  em- 
ployment of  women  and  children  than  is  to  be 
found  with  regard  to  any  other  kind  of  labor  legis- 
lation. I  fmd  in  a  report  I  prepared  for  the  Govern- 
ment of  Canada  in  1909,  respecting  conditions  in 
cotton  factories  in  the  province  of  Quebec,  the  fol- 
lowing facts  concerning  the  employment  of  women 
and  children,  disclosed  under  oath  at  the  time  of 
the  inquiry : 

"Of  the  operatives  employed  in  the  Quebec  cot- 
ton mills  42.3  per  cent  are  females  and  26.6  per  cent 
are  persons  under  18  years  of  age.  As  to  the  hours 
of  labor  of  these  two  classes,  it  was  asserted  that  in 
normal  times  and  under  normal  conditions,  work 
should  begin  on  week  days  at  6.15  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  continue  to  12  noon,  resume  at  a 
quarter  to  1  and  continue  till  6,  with  the  exception 
of  Saturdays,  when  there  was  work  only  in  the 
morning.  .  .  .  Though  the  minimum  age  at  which 
children  can  be  employed  is  fixed  by  the  Quebec 


314  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

law  at  14  years,  several  children  were  brought  be- 
fore the  Commission  from  among  those  working  in 
the  mills  who  admitted  that  they  had  entered  upon 
employment  under  the  legal  age.  Some  of  these 
children  were  so  immature  and  ignorant  that  they 
were  unable  to  tell  the  year  of  their  birth,  or  their 
age.  One  little  girl  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  the 
word  'hoHday,'  and  when  it  had  been  explained  to 
her,  stated  that  the  only  hohdays  she  had  known 
were  Christmas  and  Epiphany.  She  had  never  re- 
ceived a  week's  vacation.  One  or  two  children  ad- 
mitted that  they  knew  their  parents  had  made 
false  declarations  as  to  age,  and  that  they  had  been 
told  by  their  parents  to  say  what  was  untrue,  when 
questioned  on  the  point."  ^ 

Public  opinion  everywhere  to-day  would  support 
the  view  expressed  in  the  findings  with  reference  to 
conditions  as  they  were  at  that  time :  that  the  hours 
of  labor  of  women  and  young  persons  in  the  cotton 
mills  were  too  long;  that  the  law  respecting  the  em- 
ployment of  child  labor  should  be  so  amended  as  to 
provide  against  possible  infractions  in  the  future; 
and  that,  as  regards  the  employment  of  female  and 
child  labor,  a  special  responsibiUty  devolved  upon 
shareholders  and  all  other  persons  profiting  by  the 
results  of  such  labor. 

For  Public  Opinion  to  be  effective,  it  is  necessary 
that  it  be  made  an  informed  Opinion.  Pubhc  Opin- 

^  Report  of  Royal  Commission  to  inquire  into  industrial  disputes 
in  the  Cotton  Factories  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  printed  by  order 
of  Parliament,  King's  Printer,  Ottawa,  1909;  pp.  16-17. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      315 

ion  was  sensitive  to  humane  considerations  at  the 
time  the  inquiry  in  question  was  being  held.  It  re- 
quired httle  more  than  the  pubhcity  of  the  inquiry 
to  cause  the  Government  of  the  Province  of  Quebec 
to  act  upon  recommendations  of  the  Report,  and 
thereby  considerably  to  advance  legislation  with 
respect  to  the  employment  of  women  and  young 
persons  in  that  province.  The  fact,  however,  that 
during  the  inquiry  the  heads  of  the  companies  con- 
cerned expressed  themselves  as  much  surprised  to 
learn  that  child  labor  was  being  employed  contrary 
to  law,  is  perhaps  as  good  an  illustration  as  could 
be  afforded  of  the  wisdom  of  recognizing  four  par- 
ties to  Industry,  and  of  ensuring  to  the  Community, 
as  well  as  to  Capital,  Management,  and  Labor,  re- 
spect for  its  voice  in  regard  to  conditions  which 
vitally  affect  its  own  well-being. 

A  humane  conception  of  Industry  demands 
recognition  of  many  factors.  The  impairment  of 
health  and  life  which  comes  by  slow  and  imper- 
ceptible degrees  in  the  form  of  depletion  of  nervous 
energy  and  exhausted  vitality  occasioned  by  the 
strain  and  fatigues  of  Industry,  accounts  for  enor- 
mous losses  to  the  Community  and  to  Industry. 
With  the  changes  that  have  come  through  the  dis- 
covery of  new  processes,  the  invention  of  mechani- 
cal and  electrical  devices,  the  utilization  of  new 
powers,  intensity,  in  contrast  with   duration,  of 


316  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

effort,  has  become  an  increasingly  important  con- 
sideration. The  dangers  incidental  to  strain  which 
arise  from  intensity  of  effort  constitute  a  class  of 
evil  against  which  it  is  not  possible  to  take  too 
great  precautions.  The  effect  of  strain  and  inten- 
sity of  effort  in  employment  is  something  that  can- 
not be  gauged  by  the  generally  accepted  methods 
of  classification  based  upon  external  evidence.  Vis- 
ible criteria,  such  as  age,  sex,  and  hours,  may  be 
applied  up  to  a  certain  point;  then  it  becomes 
necessary  to  take  account  of  other  elements  in 
the  human  equation,  and  to  consider  a  variety  of 
physiological  and  psychological  reactions. 

As  illustrating  the  many  considerations  of  which 
account  must  be  taken  in  safeguarding  the  health 
of  workers  in  Industry,  and  the  necessity  of  great 
precaution  on  the  part  of  the  State,  not  only  as  a 
protection  against  present  injustice,  but  in  the  in- 
terests of  a  nation's  human  resources,  it  may  be 
opportune  to  refer  at  this  point  to  facts  elicited  in 
another  important  inquiry.  In  February,  1907,  the 
Canadian  Government  appointed  a  Commission,  of 
which  I  was  named  the  chairman,  to  inquire  into 
matters  pertaining  to  the  employment  of  tele- 
phone operators.^  The  Commission  held  its  sittings 
in  Toronto,  and   seventy   witnesses  in  all  were 

'  Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  a  dispute  respecting?  hours 
of  employment,  between  the  Bell  Telephone  Company  of  Canada, 
Ltd.,  and  operators  at  Toronto,  Ont.  Ottawa:  Government  Printing 
Bureau,  1907. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      317 

examined,  including  twenty-six  physicians,  selected 
mostly  from  the  medical  faculties  of  Canadian  uni- 
versities. 

There  seems  little  about  the  occupation  of  tele- 
phone operating  to  make  it  a  matter  of  special  con- 
cern on  the  part  of  the  State.  It  is  commonly 
thought  that  any  girl  with  inteUigence  may  quickly 
acquire  the  skill  necessary  to  become  a  successful 
operator.  To  the  onlooker,  except  at  the  switch- 
board of  some  large  exchange,  when  the  wires  are 
carrying  "the  peak  of  the  load,"  telephone  operat- 
ing seems  to  afford  plenty  of  opportunities  of  rest, 
and  even,  at  times,  of  recreation.  How  consider- 
ably telephone  operating  differs  from  other  occupa- 
tions in  which  women  are  commonly  employed,  is 
not  observed  until  attention  is  drawn  to  the  strain 
upon  the  nervous  system  which  the  work  under 
most  conditions  involves.  Contrary  to  general  be- 
lief, the  work  is  not  automatic  or  mechanical,  but 
requires  considerable  mental  effort,  and  real  men- 
tal capacity. 

In  most  occupations  in  which  female  labor  is  em- 
ployed, strain  is  mainly  physical.  In  telephone 
operating,  there  is  physical  strain  through  the 
reaching  required  to  make  connections  at  switch- 
boards, through  inability  to  relax,  and  the  fatigue 
of  long  continued  sitting  in  one  position.  In  addi- 
tion, the  special  senses  of  sight,  hearing,  and  touch, 
the  faculties  of  speech,  memory,  and  perception. 


318  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

are  called  into  operation  not  only  continuously, 
but  in  a  concerted  manner;  when  not  actually 
employed,  they  are  not  resting,  because  neces- 
sarily upon  the  alert.  The  brain  is  in  constant  use, 
the  mind  on  the  qui  vive.  Not  only  are  the  special 
senses  active,  but  there  is  a  high  tension  on  the 
special  senses,  and  a  certain  amount  of  mental 
worry.  The  strain  is  in  proportion  to  the  nervous 
force  exhausted,  and  the  exhaustion  of  nervous 
energy  is  a  matter  only  of  degree.  The  Uability  to 
occasional  injury  from  shocks,  the  irritation  caused 
by  the  intermittent  glowing  of  lights  reflecting 
the  impatience  of  users,  the  occasional  buzzing 
and  snapping  of  instruments  in  the  ear,  the  sense  of 
crowding  where  work  accumulates,  the  conscious- 
ness of  supervision,  the  sense  of  responsibility  in 
responding  to  calls,  and  the  inevitable  anxiety  occa- 
sioned by  seeking  to  make  necessary  connections 
whenever  a  rush  takes  place,  all  combine  to  accen- 
tuate the  strain  upon  the  nervous  energies  of  an 
operator.  These  factors  are  present  in  lesser  de- 
gree in  other  callings  in  which  women  are  engaged. 
A  woman's  nature,  moreover,  is  pecuharly  sensi- 
tive to  reproaches;  to  be  liable  to  harsh  words  with- 
out means  of  redress  tends  to  intensify  the  nervous- 
ness of  operating  an  exchange. 

The  manner  in  which  operating  is  sometimes 
carried  on  adds  to  a  strain  which,  under  almost  any 
conditions,  is  considerable.  Cost,  service,  and  abil- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      319 

ity  to  secure  operators  are  determining  factors. 
They  lead,  in  telephone  operating,  as  in  other  busi- 
nesses, to  the  adoption  of  methods  whereby  a  max- 
imum amount  of  work  may  be  secured  at  minimum 
cost.  In  this  connection,  elements  enter  which 
relate  to  switch-board  economy,  and  which  affect 
the  duration  and  intensity  of  employment,  such  as 
overloading,  high  pressure,  double  work,  overtime, 
and  team  work.  All  are  necessarily  subject  to  some 
regulation,  but  there  is  hardly  a  point  at  which  the 
health  and  well-being  of  operators  do  not  come 
into  direct  conflict  with  the  desire  for  gain. 

In  estimating  the  full  significance  of  factors  such 
as  those  mentioned,  it  is  also  to  be  remembered 
that  the  class  of  persons  employed  as  operators  is 
composed  mostly  of  girls  and  young  women  be- 
tween the  ages  of  seventeen  and  twenty-three. 
Persons  of  these  years  are  preferred  to  others  be- 
cause of  the  greater  faciUty  with  which  they  learn 
the  work  and  acquire  dexterity.  These  are  years 
during  which  the  nervous  and  physical  system  of  a 
woman  is  pecuharly  sensitive  to  strain  and  suscep- 
tible to  injury.  Harm  done  or  impairment  of  the 
system  sustained  at  that  period  of  hfe,  is  apt  to 
be  more  far-reaching  in  consequences  than  effects 
from  similar  causes  at  maturer  years. 

It  should  be  mentioned,  too,  that  the  work  of 
telephone  operating  does  not  appear  to  be  of  a  kind 
to  fit  a  woman  for  any  other  occupation  or  calhng. 


320  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

There  is  added  significance,  therefore,  in  the  fact 
that  the  average  time  spent  by  operators  in  the 
service  is  from  two  to  three  years,  and  that  the 
period  of  service  is  usually  given  at  the  time  when 
a  young  woman  is  best  able  to  acquire  the  training 
which  is  to  fit  her  for  gaining  a  hvehhood. 

Before  giving  their  opinions,  the  physicians  who 
testified  before  the  Commission  were  asked  to  visit 
the  central  telephone  exchange  and  consider  the  ef- 
fects upon  the  optic  and  auditory  nerves,  and  upon 
the  physical  and  nervous  systems  of  the  operators, 
occasioned  by  the  factors  mentioned.  Without 
exception,  the  physicians  testified  that  conditions 
as  they  had  witnessed  them  meant  constant  nerv- 
ous strain  which  could  not  but  seriously  react  upon 
the  physical  health  of  the  operators.  Nearly  all 
testified  to  personal  knowledge,  acquired  through 
professional  experience,  of  the  deleterious  effects  of 
the  work  upon  the  constitution  and  nervous  sys- 
tem. The  high  state  of  nervous  tension  was  dwelt 
upon,  as  well  as  its  inevitable  effects  in  depletion 
of  nervous  energy,  culminating  sooner  or  later  in 
debility,  breakdown,  and  prostration.  Compari- 
sons were  made  with  other  occupations,  but  none 
of  the  physicians  were  able  to  cite  an  industrial 
calling  in  which  the  tension  on  special  senses  was  so 
high  over  so  long  a  period  of  time,  and  in  which 
there  appeared  to  be  equal  strain  during  a  hke 
period  of  work.  Especially  did  the  doctors  refer  to 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      321 

the  consequences  of  prolonged  strain  in  its  effects 
upon  community  well-being.  It  was  pointed  out 
that,  while  present  strain  might  lead  to  nervous 
breakdown  in  years  to  come,  the  final  results  of 
strain  might  not  be  apparent  even  to  operators 
themselves.  Ill  effects  might  be  passed  on  to  suc- 
ceeding generations. 

The  possible  deleterious  effects  of  strain  in  In- 
dustry generally  upon  future  generations  are  mat- 
ters for  medical  opinion,  and  should  be  made  a 
subject  of  expert  medical  investigation.  The  new 
place  of  woman  in  Industry  makes  more  impera- 
tive than  ever  the  need  for  such  expert  inquiry. 
Few,  I  imagine,  who  are  interested  in  human  well- 
being  will  take  exception  to  the  findings  of  the 
Commission  that  "the  working  of  women  at  high 
pressure  should  be  made  a  crime  at  law  as  it  is  a 
crime  against  Nature  herself";  and  that  *' where  it 
is  a  question  between  the  money-making  devices  of 
a  large  corporation  and  the  health  of  young  girls 
and  women,  business  cupidity  should  be  compelled 
to  make  way."  ^ 

^  I  should  not  like  to  have  it  inferred  that  conditions  as  they  at 
present  exist  in  telephone  exchanges  are  necessarily  injurious  to  the 
operators.  The  inquiry  referred  to  was  held  over  ten  years  ago,  and 
related  to  conditions  as  found  at  that  time,  and  only  at  the  exchange 
to  which  the  appointment  of  the  Commission  had  special  reference. 
Before  the  Commission's  duties  were  completed,  conditions  were  so 
altered  by  the  Company  that  the  Commission  was  enabled  to  report 
favorably  upon  the  change.  Moreover,  it  was  stated  in  evidence  at 
the  time  that  the  exchange  in  question  compared  unfavorably  with 
others.  Reference  is  here  made  to  the  subject  solely  for  purposes  of 
illustration. 


322  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

In  estimating  strain  and  tax  upon  nervous  en- 
ergy and  vitality,  there  are,  in  addition  to  concen- 
trated attention  and  intensity  of  effort,  four  factors 
which  contribute  in  no  uncertain  measure.  They 
are  sgeed,  noise,  complexity,  andmoiiotony.  Pres- 
sure of  any  kind,  not  included  within  this  group, 
should  be  added  as  a  fifth.  The  consciousness  of 
ever-present  supervision  may  produce  a  nervous 
strain  upon  sensitive  workers  greater  than  that  of 
the  speeding-up  of  machinery,  the  incessant  din  of 
hammers,  or  comphcations  of  intricate  industrial 
operations.  To  a  pressure  of  employment  at  one 
time  and  uncertainty  of  employment  at  another, 
there  must  be  added,  in  the  case  of  many  a  wage- 
earner,  ever-present  trying  domestic  circumstances 
and  responsibilities.  Thus  far  in  industrial  regula- 
tion, the  cumulative  effects  of  subjective  influences 
and  of  combined  physical  and  mental  strain  have 
been  all  but  wholly  ignored.  They  are  of  the  very 
essence  of  the  forces  which  are  helping  to  under- 
mine, not  alone  the  health  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  individuals,  but  also  the  vitality  of  coming 
generations. 

Wages  below  the  minimum  of  subsistence  must 
be  viewed  in  much  the  same  light  as  hours  of  work 
beyond  the  point  of  endurance.  Experience  has 
proven  that,  from  a  social  standpoint,  "sweating," 
however  occasioned,  begets  the  most  pernicious 
consequences.    Experience  has  falsified  the  view 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      323 

that  the  legal  minimum  wage  begets  indifference. 
It  is  true  that  what  is  the  minimum  of  subsistence, 
and  what  the  point  of  endurance,  may  vary  as  be- 
tween individuals  and  races.  But  possible  varia- 
tions do  not  affect  substantial  reahties.  The  recog- 
nition of  a  minimum  wage  as  well  as  a  minimum 
age,  of  maximum  strain  as  well  as  maximum  hours, 
is  absolutely  essential  if  regard  is  to  be  had  for  the 
safety  and  health  of  workers. 

What  physical  and  mental  overstrain,  and  under- 
pay and  underfeeding  are  doing  for  the  race  in  occa- 
sioning infant  mortahty,  a  low  birthrate,  and  race 
degeneration,  in  increasing  nervous  disorders  and 
furthering  a  general  predisposition  to  disease,  is 
appalhng.  These  are  the  problems  which  require 
first  consideration,  if  decadence  is  not  to  be  the 
fate  of  industrial  communities. 

The  losses  which  still  arise  in  Industry  from  pre- 
ventable causes  are  enormous.  Frightful  as  are  the 
losses  in  war,  they  are  paralleled  by  sacrifices  in 
Industry  of  which  the  world  takes  httle  or  no  ac- 
count. Indeed,  the  horrors  of  war  should  rouse  us 
to  a  consciousness  of  the  horrors  of  Industry,  for 
they  are  the  same.  Death  by  the  explosion  of  a  shell 
in  battle  is  no  different  from  death  by  the  explosion 
of  dynamite  in  a  mine.  The  loss  of  a  leg,  of  an  arm, 
of  an  eye,  is  the  same  whether  incurred  in  a  factory 
or  in  a  fort.  Tuberculosis  is  tuberculosis  whether 


324  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

contracted  by  the  cutting  of  granite  or  in  a  trench.* 
Poisoning  is  just  as  painful  and  just  as  fatal  when 
it  comes  from  white  lead  used  in  plumbing  as  from 
enemy  gases.  It  is  questionable  if  war  has  any  dis- 
eases more  hideous  than  some  from  which  men  and 
women  in  Industry  have  suffered  and  died.  Ex- 
hausted nerves,  wasted  energy,  depleted  vitality: 
these  are  not  the  pecuhar  inheritance  of  armies. 
Few  industries  have  not  had  their  hosts  of  shat- 
tered humans.  2 

In  the  summer  of  1910,  I  attended  a  meeting  of 
the  International  Labor  Association,  at  Lugano, 
Italy.  Among  the  subjects  discussed  was  the  in- 
dustrial disease  known  as  phosphorus  necrosis,  or 
phosphorus  poisoning.  The  aim  of  the  Interna- 
tional Association  is  to  bring  about  uniformity  in 
the  industrial  laws  of  the  different  countries.  The 
Association  was  seeking,  at  the  Lugano  meeting, 
to  secure  common  action  among  the  nations  to 
compel  the  universal  adoption  of  an  available  sub- 

1  Vide  The  Battle  with  Tuberculosis  and  How  to  Win  It,  by  Dr.  D. 
Macdougall  King.   Lippincotts,  19 17. 

2  The  reader  is  referred,  amongst  other  sources,  to  the  many  excel- 
lent reports  contained  in  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor, 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Industrial  Accidents  euid  Hygiene  Series. 
The  latest  report  (issued  in  June,  1918),  upon  Mortality  from  Respi- 
ratory Diseases  in  Dusty  Trades,  is  one  of  the  most  important  and 
illuminating  of  the  entire  series. 

The  reports  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  British  Minister  of 
Munitions  to  investigate  conditions  affecting  the  health  and  welfare 
of  workers  are  another  exceedingly  valuable  source.  These  reports 
are  being  printed  in  condensed  form  by  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Labor. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      325 

stitute  for  white  phosphorus  in  the  making  of 
matches.  It  had  arranged  international  confer- 
ences on  the  subject  as  early  as  1905  and  1906. 
Here  the  Law  of  Competing  Standards  in  Industry 
was  in  evidence  again.  The  International  Associa- 
tion saw  clearly  that  a  much  needed  reform  might 
lead,  in  the  very  countries  which  adopted  it,  to  the 
sacrifice  or  loss  of  the  industry  concerned,  unless 
all  nations  could  be  induced  to  adopt  essential 
standards.  Matches  manufactured  under  inferior 
labor  standards  in  one  country,  being  brought 
through  international  trade  into  competition  with 
matches  made  under  superior  standards  elsewhere, 
might  soon  gain  the  market,  and  inferior  labor 
standards  thereby  succeed  in  driving  out  the  su- 
perior. Only  by  giving  international  scope  to  the 
law  of  mutual  aid  could  this  possibility  be  over- 
come. 

Phosphorus  necrosis  has  been  known  in  the 
match  industry  for  over  three  quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury. It  is  caused  by  the  absorption  of  phosphorus 
through  the  teeth  or  gums.  Minute  particles  of  the 
poison  enter,  usually  through  the  cavities  of  de- 
cayed teeth,  setting  up  an  inflammation,  which,  if 
not  quickly  arrested,  extends  along  the  jaws,  caus- 
ing the  teeth  to  loosen  and  drop  out.  The  jawbones 
slowly  decompose  and  pass  away  in  the  form  of  nau- 
seating pus,  which  sometimes  breaks  through  the 
neck  in  the  form  of  an  abscess.  Where  swallowed, 


326  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

as  is  inevitable,  the  pus  induces  chronic  toxaemia. 
Treatment  is  largely  preventive,  but  when  the  dis- 
ease is  once  estabUshed  a  serious  surgical  operation 
is  often  the  only  means  of  arresting  the  process  of 
decay.  In  many  instances  of  poisoning,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  remove  the  entire  jaw,  and  in  several  cases 
both  jaws  have  been  removed  in  a  single  operation. 
Many  cases  of  necrosis  have  resulted  in  death.  ^ 

A  few  years  ago,  the  French  Government  made  a 
state  monopoly  of  the  match  business.  Numbers 
of  match  workers  contracted  the  disease  and  be- 
came a  charge  on  the  State.  The  authorities  were 
alarmed,  and  the  Government  instituted  an  in- 
quiry to  fmd  a  substitute  for  white  phosphorus. 
What  is  known  as  sesqui  sulphite  was  discovered 
by  two  French  chemists  and  adopted  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. It  was  this  substitute,  made  available 
to  all  countries,  that  the  International  Association 
was  seeking  to  have  introduced  under  international 
convention. 

It  is  an  interesting  commentary  on  industrial  con- 
ditions as  regulated  by  public  and  private  interests 
respectively,  that  when  the  French  Government 
found  itself  obliged  to  use  part  of  the  revenue  it 
was  deriving  from  the  match  industry  to  maintain 
diseased  workers,  it  undertook  to  provide  a  remedy. 
Privately  owned  manufacturing  concerns,  which 

1  For  information  on  this  disease,  and  the  measure  of  success  which 
has  attended  its  eradication,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  American 
Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  New  York. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      327 

felt  little  or  no  sense  of  responsibility  for  the  health 
of  workers,  continued  existing  processes  without 
seeking  to  adopt  any  substitute  for  the  poisonous 
material. 

In  the  session  of  the  Canadian  Parhament 
following  the  meeting  of  the  International  Labor 
Association,  I  introduced  a  bill  to  prohibit  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  matches  made  with  white 
phosphorus.^  The  bill  was  modelled  upon  legisla- 
tion enacted  in  Great  Britain.  Before  presenting 
the  measure  to  Parliament,  I  sought  to  discover  to 
what  extent  the  disease  known  as  phosphorus  nec- 
rosis had  found  a  beginning  in  Canada.  The  fol- 
lowing statements  are  from  the  joint  report  of  two 
officers  of  the  Department  of  Labour  as  quoted  in 
the  House  of  Commons  in  the  course  of  the  debate 
on  the  measure : 

"Miss ,  aged  between  22  and  23  years,  re- 
sided with  her  parents  at street.   Her  death 

took  place  about  a  year  ago.  The  following  brief 
statement  concerning  her  illness  and  death  was 
made  by  her  mother: 

"She  commenced  work  in  the  match  factory  at 
the  age  of  14.  Her  term  of  employment  there  lasted 
about  7  years,  when  she  had  to  cease  work.  Her 
trouble  commenced  with  toothache  and  extended 
to  the  jawbones,  finally  affecting  the  whole  face. 

^  The  bill  was  before  Parliament  at  the  time  of  prorogation  in  the 
summer  of  igi  i.  It  has  since  been  enacted.  It  was  reintroduced  at  a 
subsequent  session  of  Parliament  by  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Crothers,  K.C., 
Minister  of  Labour  in  the  administration  of  Sir  Robert  Borden. 


328  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

During  the  last  stages  of  the  disease  she  was  com- 
pletely bhnd.  Her  illness  covered  a  period  of  19 
months.   She  was  attended  by  Dr.  — — .   She  was 

admitted  to Hospital  on  two  occasions,  where 

operations  were  performed,  and  was  released  from 
that  institution  shortly  before  her  death.  During 
the  last  few  years  she  worked  in  the  match  factory 
she  earned  $1.25  per  day. 

"Dr. ,  the  first  of  the  physicians  referred  to 

by  the  mother,  states  that  phosphorus  poisoning 
was  the  cause  of  this  young  woman's  death.  The 
other  physician  did  not  wish  to  be  interviewed." 

"Miss ,  38  years  of  age,  resided  at ,  died 

May  5,  1910,  after  an  illness  of  seven  months. 

"The  statement  in  connection  with  the  illness 
and  death  of  this  woman  was  obtained  at  the  home 
of  her  parents.  She  had  worked  in  the  match  fac- 
tory for  eight  or  ten  years  before  her  teeth  began  to 

give  her  trouble.  Dr. then  ordered  her  to  have 

five  teeth  extracted,  the  operation  being  performed 

by  Dr. .  She  continued  to  get  worse,  and  Dr. 

— —  was  consulted,  who  said  that  she  had  poison- 
ing of  the  blood,  caused  by  fumes.  She  was  ad- 
mitted to Hospital  on  March  5,  where  she 

remained  till  May  3,  two  days  before  her  death. 
While  in  the  hospital  she  was  operated  upon  sev- 
eral times,  and  portions  of  the  jawbone  extracted. 
Each  of  the  two  physicians  who  attended  this 
woman  during  her  illness  was  seen  in  reference  to 
this  case,  and  both  stated  that  the  cause  of  death 
was  phosphorus  poisoning." 

"Miss ,  aged  25  years,  resided  with  her  par- 
ents at ,  died  on  April  17,  1910.  The  following 

facts  were  elicited  in  a  conversation  with  her  father, 
mother,  and  sister: 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      329 

"She  died  on  April  17,  1910,  after  an  illness  of 
about  a  year,  at  the  age  of  25.  She  had  worked  in 
the  match  factory  about  five  years  before  her  trou- 
bles began.  She  was  admitted  to  the Hospital 

during  the  summer  of  1909,  and  was  under  the  care 

of  Dr. ,  of .  She  had  all  her  teeth  extracted 

and  portions  of  the  jawbone  removed.  Was  con- 
fined to  bed  for  five  months  and  endured  terrible 
suffering  from  ulceration  of  the  jaw  and  decay  of 
the  bone.  In  describing  the  cause  of  her  death,  the 
expression  used  by  one  of  her  parents  was,  'She 
died  of  consumption,  caused  by  swallowing  pus 
from  ulcerated  jaw.'" 

The  three  deaths  referred  to  in  these  quotations 
all  occurred  during  the  very  year  in  which  the 
bill  was  presented  to  Parhament.  The  report  men- 
tioned other  persons  who  were  thought  to  have 
succumbed  to  the  disease,  and  cited  numerous  in- 
stances of  men  as  well  as  women  who  at  the  time 
were  suffering  from  phosphorus  poisoning.  So  un- 
believable were  some  of  the  cases  reported  that 
before  making  mention  of  them  in  Parliament,  I 
visited  the  homes  of  some  of  the  sufferers  and  veri- 
fied the  statements  by  personal  observation.  One 
woman  I  talked  with  had  both  of  her  jaws  removed 
entirely,  her  mouth  was  full  of  abscesses,  and  she 
had  been  rendered  an  invahd  for  the  rest  of  her  life. 
At  another  home,  I  talked  with  a  woman  who  had 
been  bed-ridden  for  four  years  from  the  effects  of 
this  disease.  She  was  without  a  lower  jaw.  She 
told  me  such  was  the  condition  of  the  bones  at  the 


330  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

time  that  during  her  illness  she  had  pulled  her  jaw 
out  with  her  own  hands.  ^  To  such  a  frightful  con- 
dition can  Industry,  insufficiently  controlled,  bring 
human  beings  made  in  the  image  of  God ! 

I  cite  these  examples  of  a  hideous  industrial  dis- 
ease to  illustrate  how  little  is  known,  even  to-day, 
of  much  that  is  destructive  in  Industry  at  our  very 
doors.  Had  the  Government  of  Canada  not  been 
asked  to  become  a  party  to  an  international  con- 
vention to  prevent  the  use  of  white  phosphorus  in 
the  manufacture  of  matches,  the  disease  might 
have  gone  on  claiming  its  victims  in  increasing 
numbers  for  years  to  come.  The  homes  of  the 
workers  I  visited  were  little  more  than  a  stone's 
throw  from  the  buildings  of  Parliament  itself. 

In  the  light  of  what  the  War  has  revealed  of  the 
physical  condition  of  industrial  populations,  the  pa- 
triotism of  such  exposures  will  hardly  be  doubted. 
If  apology  be  needed  for  resurrecting  a  condition  so 
appalhng,  and  happily  now  a  thing  of  the  past,  it 
will  be  found  in  the  words  with  which  I  concluded 
the  presentation  of  the  matter  to  Parhament.  In 
the  Hansard  report  of  the  House  of  Commons  De- 
bates, I  find  the  following  as  of  January  19, 1911 : 

"We  talk  a  great  deal  in  these  days  about  the 
conservation  of  natural  resources,  but  more  im- 
portant than  the  conservation  of  natural  resources 

1  Vide  Report,  Hansard,  House  of  Commons  Debates,  Canada, 
January  19,  191 1. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      331 

is  the  conservation  of  human  resources,  the  con-/ 
iServation  of  human  health  and  of  human  life.  Re-/ 
sources  are  well  enough;  our  lumber,  forests,  ore, 
and  minerals  were  given  to  us  for  a  purpose,  but 
they  were  given  for  the  preserv^ation,  and  not  for 
the  destruction,  of  life.  So  in  the  Department  of 
Labour  we  have  taken  as  one  of  the  objects  before 
us,  as  part  of  the  work  which  I  trust  it  will  be  pos- 
sible to  carry  on  through  the  years  to  come,  this 
important  question  of  the  preservation  of  health, 
the  conservation  of  human  life,  the  protection  of 
the  working  people,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of 
this  country,  from  occupational  or  other  diseases 
which  help  to  undermine  the  strength  of  the  nation. 
If  this  country  is  to  be  what  we  wish  it  to  be,  a 
country  of  happy,  contented  and  prosperous  peo- 
ple, it  will  be  only  by  safeguarding  the  lives  and 
welfare  of  the  many,  and  by  protecting  from  injus- 
tice and  ill  the  homes  of  the  humble  in  the  land." 

The  War  has  postponed  the  hour  of  social  re- 
form, but  it  has  served  to  arouse  communities  to 
the  need  of  improvement  in  social  conditions.  A 
"revitalized  citizenry"  is  now  seen  to  be  a  part 
of  the  problem  of  preparedness  and  defence.  An 
awakened  social  conscience  demands  that  condi- 
tions which  make  for  ruin  and  decay  in  urban  or 
rural  communities  must  be  eliminated,  that  the 
well-being  of  society  as  a  whole  may  be  conserved. 
I  can  think  of  no  service  possible  to  render  Human- 
ity greater  than  that  of  scientific  research  into  oc- 
cupational diseases,  and  the  fatigues  of  Industry, 
and  their  effects  upon  the  well-being  of  mankind. 


332  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

The  recognition  of  Industry  as  being  in  the  na- 
ture of  pubUc  or  social  service  is  very  recent,  but 
the  emphasis  given  this  point  of  view  by  the  War 
will  prove  enduring.  Once  Industry  is  so  regarded, 
all  that  is  to  be  said  on  behalf  of  those  who  serv^e 
the  State  in  time  of  war  becomes  equally  apphcable 
to  those  who  face  the  perils  of  Industry  through 
long  and  continuous  service  in  times  of  peace. 
Where  Industry  exacts  toll  in  hfe  and  limb,  and  in 
loss  of  health  and  vitahty,  its  effects,  in  these  par- 
ticulars, are  identical  with  those  of  war,  and  are  in 
every  way  as  deserving  of  consideration. 

Just  as,  prior  to  the  War,  fear  of  accident  and 
disease  was  responsible  for  the  beginnings  of  the 
assertion  of  community  rights,  and  the  recognition 
of  collective  responsibihty  on  the  part  of  communi- 
ties, so  fears  aroused  by  the  War,  fears  likewise  re- 
lated to  the  conservation  of  human  hfe  and  health, 
have  overridden  the  individualistic  attitude,  and 
asserted  the  community  or  coUectivist  point  of 
view  as  respects  manhood,  resources,  industries, 
talent,  and  all  else.  The  control  which,  in  times 
and  under  the  stress  of  war,  has  been  shown  to  be 
possible,  as  well  as  necessary,  in  order  that  com- 
munity well-being  may  be  preserved,  is  pretty  cer- 
tain to  be  regarded  by  Labor  as  equally  apphcable 
in  times  of  peace  and  greater  freedom. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      333 

II 

It  is  not  possible  to  lay  down  hard  and  fast  lines 
as  to  the  basis  upon  which  immunity  from  loss  of 
life  and  physical  injury,  and  from  disease  and  de- 
terioration, may  best  be  secured.  The  time,  meth- 
ods, and  limits  of  the  apphcation  under  authority 
of  principles  respecting  the  conservation  of  health 
and  life  are  not  subject  to  any  rule  sufficiently 
absolute  to  serve  as  a  guide. 

It  will  be  observed,  however,  that  the  elimin- 
ation of  fear  has  lain  at  the  root  of  all  regulation 
Industry  has  thus  far  undergone.  In  the  case  of 
women  and  children,  it  has  been  mostly  the  fear  of 
permanent  injury  to  health;  in  the  case  of  men, 
the  fear  of  physical  disability.  All  regulations  re- 
specting safety  apphances,  sanitation,  ventilation, 
lighting  and  the  hke  are  the  outcome  of  fears  of 
physical  injury,  or  of  loss  or  impairment  of  life  or 
health  and  efficiency.  In  determining  the  need  of 
control  in  new  directions,  what  is  obviously  for 
the  good  of  the  community,  what  will  best  serve 
to  eliminate  fear  and  thereby  bring  the  greatest 
happiness  to  the  greatest  number,  is  about  all  there 
is  to  come  and  go  on. 

In  determining  the  good  of  all  Ukely  to  result 
from  the  application  of  any  principle  by  authority, 
regard  must  be  had  to  possible  evil  consequences 
which  may  follow  through  oversight  of  other  de- 


334  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

termining  factors,  or  through  possible  error  in  the 
occasion,  manner,  or  degree  of  the  apphcation  at- 
tempted. Good  done  by  the  ehmination  of  fear  is 
sufficient  justification  only  in  the  absence  of  proba- 
bility that  birth  wdll  not  thereby  be  given  to  equal 
or  greater  fears.  The  whole  matter  of  social  legisla- 
tion, as  an  eminent  authority  has  expressed  it,  is 
*'a  complex  calculus  of  good  and  evil,"  "a  question 
of  probability  and  degree."  ^  Not  one  considera- 
tion, but  a  multitude  of  considerations,  enter  to 
determine  what  is  best.  Probability  may  indicate 
direction,  but  experience  and  experiment  are  the 
only  sure  guides.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  no  pri- 
vate right,  or  law,  or  custom,  so  absolute  or  inflex- 
ible that  it  may  not  be  cast  to  one  side,  if  it  can 
be  clearly  shown  that  it  menaces  personal  health 
or  stands  in  the  way  of  community  well-being. 
In  the  conflict  between  the  temporary  interests  of 
selfish  individuals  and  the  permanent  welfare  of  na- 
tions, the  latter  is  alone  entitled  to  consideration. 

Wherever,  in  social  or  industrial  relations,  the 
claims  of  Industry  and  Humanity  are  opposed, 
those  of  Industry  must  make  way.  Whilst  all  man- 
made  law  is  but  a  system  of  arbitrary  rules  defining 
the  terms  on  which  people  may  best  live  in  each 
other's  society,  and  as  such  is  "a  system  of  adjust- 
ments and  compromises  founded  upon  experience 

*  W.  Stanley  Jevons,  The  State  in  Relation  to  Labor,  p.  i6.  London, 
Macmillan  &  Co.,  1887. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      335 

and  trial,"  both  experience  and  trial  have  proven 
that  where  hfe  and  health  are  at  stake  there  can 
be  no  compromise  with  contrary  interests.  The 
guarantee  of  rest  on  one  day  in  seven;  the  restric- 
tions upon  excessive  hours  of  work  in  the  case  of 
men;  and  the  still  further  restrictions  upon  night 
work  and  upon  hours  in  the  case  of  women  and 
young  people;  the  prohibition  of  female  labor  in 
certain  classes  of  employment  and  of  child  labor 
in  general;  all  these  are  evidences  of  a  regard  for 
human  life  which  long  and  tragic  experience  has 
shown  to  be  imperative. 

While  much  may  be  looked  for  from  motives 
of  self-interest  and  of  humanity,  experience  has 
taught,  with  respect  to  accident,  disease,  and 
strain,  that  neither  self-interest  nor  humane  con- 
siderations are  to  be  relied  upon  to  protect  indi- 
viduals or  the  community  against  ignorance  and 
thoughtlessness,  and  the  still  more  pernicious  in- 
fluences of  viciousness  and  greed.  The  enjoyment 
of  normal  life  can  be  attained  only  through  con- 
formity to  laws  that  pertain  to  health;  and  con- 
formity to  laws  in  the  matter  of  health,  as  in  all 
else,  is  the  result  of  either  voluntary  or  enforced 
obedience.  By  prohibition,  by  regulation,  by  in- 
spection, the  State,  in  numberless  ways,  has  ad- 
mitted the  principle  that  the  hfe  and  health  of 
workers  is  not  a  matter  which  the  workers  them- 
selves can  be  expected  effectively  to  safeguard. 


336  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Standards  of  living  conditions  and  standards  of 
working  conditions  are  now  definitely  recognized  as 
wholly  essential  to  community  well-being.  Their 
maintenance  at  a  proper  level  over  ever-wider 
areas  is  becoming  more  and  more  recognized  as 
a  matter  of  pubhc  concern. 

Wherever,  for  want  of  restriction  or  regulation, 
there  are  legitimate  grounds  of  fear  of  personal 
harm  or  anti-social  consequences,  the  community 
is  justified,  in  order  to  conserve  human  life  and 
health,  in  imposing  some  measure  of  restraint  upon 
the  liberty  of  the  individual,  in  his  own  interest, 
and  in  the  interest  of  the  common-weal.  World- 
wide competition  places  limitations  upon  success- 
ful intervention  on  the  part  of  the  State.  But 
where  health  and  life  are  concerned,  competition 
from  without  the  State's  borders  is  less  disastrous 
than  neglect  from  within,  and  should  not  constitute 
a  bar  to  prudent  regulation.  Most  effort  to  pro- 
mote human  welfare  necessitates  some  interference 
with  individual  liberty.  Where  wisely  applied  and 
enforced,  it  is  an  immediate  restriction,  that  a 
wider  liberty  in  the  end  may  be  secured.  The  mar- 
gin of  safety  as  respects  public  intervention  may  be 
said  to  lie  along  the  borderland  of  legitimate  fear. 

There  is  legitimate  fear  where,  as  respects  work 
done,  compensation  is  wholly  inadequate  and  in- 
sufficient to  sustain  life.   This  is  the  case  in  the 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      337 

sweated  trades,  where  men,  women,  and  children, 
through  extreme  necessity,  ignorance,  incapacity, 
or  other  cause,  sacrifice  vitaUty  to  Industry,  and 
well-being  to  rapacity.  It  is  for  the  removal  of  such 
fear  that  wages  boards,  with  power  to  fix  minimum 
wages  and  maximum  hours,  have  been  devised. 

There  is  legitimate  fear  where,  despite  willing- 
ness to  work,  work  is  not  to  be  had.  This  is 
the  case  where,  in  these  days  of  specialization  in 
Industry,  financial  crises  and  industrial  depres- 
sions sweep  away  customary  employment;  where, 
through  the  play  of  invention,  the  importation  of 
foreign  labor,  tarifX  changes,  crop  failures,  and 
emergencies  of  many  kinds,  men  and  women  are 
thrown,  either  temporarily  or  permanently,  out  of 
trades  and  occupations  to  which  they  have  grown 
accustomed,  and  in  which  they  have  acquired  spe- 
cial skill.  It  is  to  meet  such  fears  that  labor  ex- 
changes have  been  planned,  and  unemployment 
insurance  has  been  provided. 

There  is  legitimate  fear  where,  through  sickness 
and  invalidity,  the  capacity  to  earn  is  gone,  and 
hard  won  and  scanty  savings  of  months,  and  often 
of  years,  become  drawn  upon  and  exhausted.  He 
who  has  never  endured  impaired  health,  where  all 
else  is  dependent  on  health,  can  know  nothing  of 
the  terrors  of  this  fear.  It  is  to  meet  such  fears  that 
insurance  against  sickness  and  invalidity  has  been 
devised. 


338  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

There  is  legitimate  fear  where  age  is  confronted 
with  the  alternative  of  poverty  or  dependence. 
Such  is  the  case  where  the  stress  of  competition 
drives  the  weak  and  infirm  to  the  wall;  where  em- 
ployers, because  of  compensation  laws  and  the 
risks  of  Industry,  refuse  employment  to  men  of 
years;  where  increasing  cost  of  living  and  dimin- 
ished earnings  make  adequate  provision  for  age 
impossible  apart  from  constant  employment.  It  is 
to  meet  such  fears  that  old  age  annuities  and  pen- 
sions have  been  provided. 

There  is  legitimate  fear  where  a  woman  is  sud- 
denly left  without  support  for  her  children.  This 
happens  where  in  Industry,  as  certainly  as  in  war, 
men  suffer  death  through  accident  or  disease.  It  is 
to  meet  such  fears  that  widows*  and  mothers'  pen- 
sions have  been  provided. 

Finally,  there  is  legitimate  fear  where  the  priva- 
tion consequent  upon  unavoidable  loss  of  work  is 
aggravated  by  the  necessity  of  extra  outlays.  Such 
is  the  case  where  to  a  woman  engaged  in  Industry, 
or  in  the  family  of  any  worker,  a  child  is  born,  and 
domestic  happiness  is  clouded  by  uncertainties  of 
employment  and  health;  and  the  habit  of  saving 
menaced  through  inability  to  protect  small  sums 
previously  set  aside.  It  is  to  meet  this  fear  that 
maternity  benefits  have  been  devised.^ 

'  For  a  comprehensive  survey  of  ler^islation  concerning  the  mini- 
mum wage,  hours  of  labor,  unemployment,  safety  and  health,  and 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      339 

With  relationships  of  Industry  no  longer  what 
they  were,  and  responsibihty  of  shareholders  to 
workmen  no  longer  of  a  Idnd  to  render  direct  re- 
ciprocal obligation  possible,  unemployment,  sick- 
ness, invalidity,  and  old  age,  cease  all  too  readily  to 
be  matters  of  personal  consideration  to  investors. 
Whoever  is  unfortunate  in  any  of  these  respects 
must  shift  for  himself.  Industrial  depressions  and 
financial  crises  affect  employer  and  employee  alike. 
But  capital  can  find  investment  elsewhere,  or,  if 
necessary,  can  wait  for  its  return,  though  suffering 
loss.  Labor  has  to  be  fed,  and  cannot  wait.  Cap- 
ital may  increase  its  returns  through  the  substi- 
tution of  machines  for  men;  Labor,  displaced  by 
machinery,  swells  the  surplus  on  the  market  and 
weakens  its  own  bargaining  power. 

By  a  strange  sort  of  irony,  much  of  the  very  leg- 
islation passed  in  the  interest  of  Labor  has  occa- 
sioned new  fears  to  Labor  itself.  Employers  finding 
themselves  under  increasing  obligations  imposed 
by  the  State,  oftentimes  of  necessity,  renounce 
obligations  formerly  assumed.  The  Workmen's 
Compensation  Acts,  which  in  most  advanced  com- 
munities have  superseded  the  old  Employers'  Lia- 
bility Acts,  constitute  a  case  in  point.  Under  the 
Employers'  Liability  Acts,  many  a  corporation 
sought  through  its  superior  economic  position  to 

social  insurance,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Principles  of  Labor  Legisla- 
tion, by  John  R.  Commons  and  John  B.  Andrews.  Harper  &  Broth- 
ers, New  York  and  London,  1916. 


340  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

escape  liability  for  injury  by  offering  some  consid- 
eration in  lieu  of  threatened  or  actual  litigation 
under  laws  which  placed  upon  the  employee  the 
onus  of  proof  of  negligence.  The  Worlanen's  Com- 
pensation Acts  place  upon  the  State  the  obligation 
of  assessing  and  paying  damages  in  case  of  injury 
or  death  in  industrial  pursuits.  The  employer  is 
made  a  contributing  factor;  he  becomes  hable  to  a 
definite  payment  from  which  there  is  no  escape. 
He  is  no  longer  left  where  indifference  or  charity 
may  characterize  his  attitude.  A  payment  known 
to  each  of  the  parties  in  advance,  and  secured  by 
the  State,  removes  altogether  the  existence  of  per- 
sonal obligation  either  way. 

So  far,  all  appears  as  gain  to  Labor.  But  with 
payment,  in  the  event  of  accident,  no  longer  a  mat- 
ter of  negotiation,  employers  cease  to  take  chances 
with  Labor.  Since  men  over  a  certain  age  are  more 
hable  to  accident  than  young  men,  when  working 
forces  are  lessened  the  older  men  are  let  out  first. 
Where  working  forces  are  increased,  men  beyond  a 
certain  age  are  told  they  need  not  apply.  The  em- 
ployer is  not  to  blame.  Neither  is  the  employee. 
What  is  important  to  remember  is  that  the  condi- 
tion which  has  begotten  the  necessity  of  both 
leaves  the  isolated  worker  to  face  advancing  years 
with  ever-lessening  chances  of  employment.  Un- 
employment, liowever  occasioned,  is  an  incident  of 
Industry  and  cannot  be  left  to  take  care  of  itself. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      341 

Individual  employers  cannot  be  expected  to  secure 
Labor  in  employment  where  economic  conditions 
occasion  discontinuance  of  industrial  operations. 
Neither  employer  nor  employee  is  at  fault  where 
each  is  powerless  against  cross  currents  that  sweep 
the  face  of  Industry  to  the  disadvantage  of  both. 

The  fears  enumerated,  it  will  be  seen,  arise,  one 
and  all,  out  of  conditions  as  they  have  developed 
in  modern  Industry  under  the  stress  of  unregulated 
competition.  They  are  inevitable  in  the  lives  of 
multitudes  of  men  and  women  engaged  in  Industry. 
Employers  can  no  more  be  expected  to  make  ade- 
quate provision  for  them  than  employees  can  be 
expected  successfully  to  avoid  them.  They  are 
social  fears  bred_of_social  conditions.  The  choice 
lies  ^etweeiTmeeting  them  voluntarily  and  meet- 
ing them  under  pubhc  authority.  Mutual  aid  and 
associated  effort  are  a  part  of  the  law  of  progress. 
Fears  which  lead  to  mutual  aid  within  groups 
may  help  to  make  society  strong  and  secure.  In 
every  way  voluntary  effort  is  superior  to  State 
intervention  and  State  assistance.  So  far  as  vol- 
untary effort  can  be  expected  or  can  be  made  to 
cope  with  the  fears  enumerated,  the  State  should 
not  intervene;  so  far  as  voluntary  effort  can- 
not be  relied  upon,  it  is  imperative  that  the  State 
should.  The  obligation  upon  the  strong  to  help 
bear  the  burdens  of  the  weak,  would  be  described 


342  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

in  court  circles  as  the  doctrine  of  noblesse  oblige.  In 
its  relation  to  industrial  opportunity,  it  is  referred 
to  as  social  justice. 

Opportunity  may  be  due  solely  to  individual 
effort.  Often,  however,  it  arises  from  conditions  in 
society  which  permit  Fortune  to  favor  one,  but  to 
frown  upon  another.  Everywhere  there  is  vast  ine- 
quality of  circumstances.  It  cannot  be  denied  that, 
under  existing  conditions,  there  are  multitudes  who 
have  httle  or  no  chance  to  begin  with;  and  many 
who,  at  some  time  in  their  lives,  find  themselves 
seemingly  robbed  of  all  chance  through  circum- 
stances wholly  beyond  their  own  control.  It  is 
probably  true,  notwithstanding,  that  at  no  previous 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world  were  the  chances 
of  improvement  for  the  mass  of  men  what  they 
are  at  the  present  time. 

In  the  changes  industrial  evolution  has  wrought, 
whilst  the  wealth  of  the  world  has  vastly  increased, 
its  distribution  has  become  increasingly  dispro- 
portionate. Through  opportunities  which  monop- 
ohstic  and  quasi-monopolistic  control  of  natural 
resources  and  powers  bestows,  and  which  skilful 
investment  makes  possible,  wealth  may  fabulously 
increase  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  and  the  many  con- 
tinue to  have  their  lot  determined  by  prevailing 
levels  of  wages  and  hours.  Through  community 
considerations  which  afford  opportunities  to  some 
and  impose  handicaps  on  others,  the  economically 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      343 

strong  very  often  tend  to  become  stronger  in  the 
industrial  struggle,  while  the  economically  weak 
tend  to  become  weaker.  The  weak  sometimes  be- 
come brutalized  and  degraded,  physically,  morally, 
and  spiritually.  As  respects  material  wealth  and 
all  that  it  brings,  unregulated  competition  makes 
possible  to-day,  as  never  before,  that  "unto  him 
that  hath  shall  be  given";  it  occasions  also,  as 
never  before,  that  "from  him  that  hath  not,  shall 
be  taken  away,  even  that  which  he  hath." 

Industrial  policy  founded  upon  recognition  of 
human  personahty  and  community  well-being  com- 
pels a  consideration  of  fundamentals.  A  point  of 
view  which  recognizes  the  Community  as  a  unit 
with  rights  superior  to  those  of  its  individual 
members,  and  which  places  the  emphasis  in  social 
relations  upon  people  rather  than  upon  prop- 
erty, necessarily  presents  a  challenge  to  many 
accepted  institutions.  Most  of  all  does  it  raise  a 
question  concerning  the  institution  of  private 
property. 

In  any  social  view  of  things,  private  ownership 
of  land  and  capital  can  have  but  one  justification. 
That  justification,  in  a  word,  is  community  service. 
Private  property  exists  because  of  an  implied  re- 
turn to  the  Community  in  virtue  of  an  actual  or 
implied  concession.  When  private  ownership  in 
land  and  capital  becomes  anti-social,  the  Commu- 


344  INDUSTRY  AND  HUiMANITY 

nity  may  be  expected  to  see  to  the  organization 
of  society  on  some  other  basis.  It  is  not  because 
of  inahenable  and  indefeasible  right  that  private 
property  exists;  it  is  because  no  other  system  has 
thus  far  been  devised  which,  having  regard  for 
human  nature  and  the  comphcated  character  of 
social  relations,  seems,  on  the  whole,  to  serve  as 
well,  from  generation  to  generation,  the  needs  of 
men  hving  together  in  an  organized  society.  In 
days  of  reconstruction,  when  change  is  apt  to  be 
advocated  just  because  it  is  change,  thought  may 
well  be  given  to  the  profound  psychological  as 
well  as  social  reasons  which  have  caused  the  so- 
cial order  through  the  centuries  to  continue  to  be 
founded  upon  the  institution  of  private  prop- 
erty. Spealdng  of  ownership,  Wilham  James  says: 
"The  depth  and  primitiveness  of  this  instinct 
would  seem  to  cast  a  sort  of  psychological  dis- 
credit in  advance  upon  all  radical  forms  of  com- 
munistic Utopia.  Private  proprietorship  cannot 
be  practically  abohshed  until  human  nature  is 
changed." 

But  the  virtues  of  an  institution,  any  more  than 
the  virtues  of  an  individual,  need  not  preclude 
recognition  of  inevitable  limitations.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  deny  the  wisdom  of  private  ownership 
in  land  and  capital  as  the  basis  of  a  social  system, 
in  order  to  recognize  possible  injustices  to  which 
private  property,  under  changing  conditions,  may 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      345 

give  rise.  Nor  need  the  desire  for  the  maintenance 
of  private  ownership  preclude  a  consideration  of 
ways  and  means  whereby  injustices  may  be  reme- 
died without  aboUshing  the  institution  itself.  The 
desire  to  maintain  an  institution  constitutes  the 
strongest  of  reasons  for  the  adoption  of  a  course 
which  may  lessen  or  eradicate  inimical  tendencies. 
Where,  as  a  result  of  community  relations  based 
upon  private  ownership  of  land  or  capital,  advan- 
tages are  derived  by  some  which  to  others  are 
denied,  consideration  may  well  be  given  to  the 
control  of  Industry,  and  to  the  distribution  of 
wealth  in  a  manner  which  may  prove  of  service  to 
rich  and  poor  alike.  How  to  attain  this  end  without 
undermining  quahties  of  initiative  and  self-reUance, 
on  which  all  real  strength  and  progress  depend,  is 
the  most  perplexing  of  the  problems  of  Govern- 
ment. 

Social  msurance,  which  in  reality  is  health  insur- 
ance in  one  form  or  another,  is  a  means  employed 
in  most  industrial  countries  to  bring  about  a  wider 
measure  of  social  justice,  without,  on  the  one  hand, 
disturbmg  the  institution  of  private  property  and 
its  advantages  to  the  Community,  or,  on  the  other, 
imperilhng  the  thrift  and  industry  of  individuals. 
Social  insurance  looks  upon  Industry  as  in  the  na^ 
ture  of  social  service.  It  regards  the  owner  of  land 
or  capital  as  a  capitahst,  but  also  as  apubhc  trustee. 


346  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

It  looks  upon  the  worker  in  Industry  as  a  wage- 
earner,  but  equally  as  a  necessary  member  of  the 
Community.  It  places  the  emphasis  on  personality 
rather  than  on  property,  and  on  hfe  rather  than  on 
wealth. 

Insurance  against  unemployment  recognizes  that 
an  isolated  human  being,  not  less  than  a  machine, 
must  be  cared  for  when  idle.  It  recognizes  also  that 
nothing  is  so  dangerous  to  the  standard  of  life,  or  so 
destructive  of  minimum  conditions  of  healthy  ex- 
istence, as  widespread  or  continued  unemployment. 
Where  idleness  is  the  fault  of  the  social  order, 
rather  than  of  the  individual  concerned,  it  places 
the  onus  on  the  State  to  safeguard  its  own  assets, 
not  more  in  the  interest  of  the  individual  than  in 
the  interest  of  social  well-being. 

Workmen's  compensation,  sickness  and  invahd- 
ity  insurance,  widows'  pensions,  maternity  and 
infant  benefits,  recognize  wherein  personal  rela- 
tionships in  Industry  have  changed,  and  where  as 
a  consequence  of  new  conditions  permanent  handi- 
caps arise.  The  social  legislation  of  which  these 
measures  are  an  expression  rejects,  as  unworthy, 
the  thought  that  men  and  women  voluntarily  in- 
cur accident,  sickness,  disease,  enfeebled  health,  or 
dependence  in  distress,  any  more  than  they  will- 
ingly seek  enslavement  of  any  kind.  It  recognizes 
the  difTiculty  of  differentiating  between  industrial 
accident  and  occupational  disease;  and  between 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING   HEALTH      347 

disease  occasioned  by  occupation  or  its  environ- 
ments and  illness  otherwise  contracted;  also  the 
impossibility  of  dissociating  from  economic  condi- 
tions the  social  waste  caused  by  excessive  and  pre- 
ventable illness.  It  sees  that  debt  binds  health  as  it 
binds  freedom,  that  sickness  represents  the  most 
frequent  factor  of  individual  destitution,  and  that 
it  is  in  painful  crises  that  handicaps  for  the  whole 
of  life  are  oftenest  imposed.  To  save  the  spirit  of 
men  from  being  crushed  is  quite  as  important  as  to 
prevent  their  bodies  from  being  broken  or  infected. 
Many  a  man's  spirit  fails  when,  through  no  fault  of 
his  own,  or  of  his  family,  efficiency  is  permanently 
impaired  through  accident,  or  savings  become  ex- 
hausted by  unemployment  or  sickness,  or  where  a 
new  life  in  the  home  suggests  an  additional  burden 
instead  of  a  joy.  Much  invalidity  and  penury  is 
due  to  lack  of  character  and  thrift;  but  much  also 
is  evidence  of  want  of  effective  social  control.  What 
society  fails  effectively  to  prevent,  society  is  in 
some  measure  under  obhgation  to  mend.^ 

Old  age  pensions  are  similar.  They  are  based, 
not  on  the  theory  that  the  State  owes  every  man  a 
living,  but  rather  on  the  fact  that  the  provision  of 
an  assured  competence  for  old  age  is  an  easy  matter 
for  some,  whilst,  for  others,  it  is  most  difficult,  if 

^  The  reader  is  here  referred  to  Standards  of  Health  Insurance,  by 
I.  M.  Rubinow,  M.D.,  Ph.D.  (New  York,  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1916), 
and  to  a  volume  entitled  Social  Insurance :  An  Economic  Analysis,  by 
Robert  Morse.Woodbury,  Ph.D.  (New  York,  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  191 7;. 


348  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

not  wholly  impossible.  After  all  allowance  has  been 
made  for  superior  thrift,  intelligence,  and  integrity, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  to  the  man  who  has  cap- 
ital to  begin  with,  or  whom  society  permits  to  own 
and  control  vast  natural  resources,  there  are  oppor- 
tunities of  saving  not  possible  to  the  worker  who 
possesses  no  capital,  and  who  has  to  face  un- 
certainties of  employment  and  contend,  unaided, 
against  all  kinds  of  vicissitudes.  It  is  obvious  that 
existing  forces  of  world  competition  operate  to  rob 
advanced  years  of  opportunities  of  employment, 
which,  under  the  less  strenuous  regime  of  earher 
times,  were  available  to  the  close  of  life.  There  is 
need  for  society  to  assist  in  the  protection  of  its 
members  against  a  condition  which  simultaneously 
places  burdens  upon  the  worker  whose  day's  work 
is  done,  and  on  the  worker  whose  day's  work  is  just 
beginning.  If  the  young  are  to  be  given  a  fair  start 
in  hfe,  the  care  of  the  aged  should  not  be  their  first 
responsibility.  If  hfe-long  pubhc  service  in  Indus- 
try is  to  receive  its  fitting  reward,  years  that  are 
denied  opportunity  of  employment  should  not  be 
subjected  to  the  humiliation  of  dependence  or 
charity. 

It  is  the  ehmination  of  fears  with  respect  to  these 
fundamental  requisites  of  health  that  Labor  speaks 
of  as  a  National  Minimum  standard  of  hfe.  The 
Labor  Party  of  Great  Britain  has  recently  put  for- 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      349 

ward  the  universal  enforcement  of  the  National 
Minimum  as  its  first  principle.  A  National  Mini- 
mum is  regarded  as  being  as  indispensable  to  fruit- 
ful co-operation  as  to  successful  combination;  and 
as  affording  the  only  complete  safeguard  against 
an  insidious  degradation  of  the  standard  of  life. 
"Only,"  it  is  contended,  "on  the  basis  of  a  univer- 
sal application  of  the  policy  of  the  National  Mini- 
mum, affording  complete  security  against  desti- 
tution, in  sickness  and  health,  in  good  times  and 
bad  alike,  to  every  member  of  the  Community,  can 
any  worthy  social  order  be  built  up." 

In  advocating  enforcement  of  this  minimum 
as  the  necessary  basis  of  any  genuine  industrial 
efTiciency  or  decent  social  order,  Labor  fortifies 
its  position  by  accepting  without  reservation  the 
Christian  precepts  that  "No  man  liveth  to  himself 
alone,"  and  that  "We  are  members  one  of  another." 
It  apphes  these  teachings  to  the  economic  foun- 
dations of  society.  "If  any,  even  the  humblest," 
says  the  programme  of  the  Labor  Party,  "is  made 
to  suffer,  the  whole  community  and  every  one  of 
us,  whether  or  not  we  recognize  the  fact,  is  thereby 
injured." 

The  doctrine  of  social  justice,  whereby  the  eco- 
nomically strong  share  the  burdens  of  the  economi- 
cally weak,  and  on  which  the  principle  of  the 
National  Minimum  is  based,  is  the  antithesis  of 
the  doctrine  of  Force.  It  is  founded  on  a  concep- 


350  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

tion  of  Right  in  contrast  to  a  belief  in  Might.  It 
signifies  brotherhood,  not  fratricide.  It  does  not 
proceed  upon  the  theory  that  the  economically 
strong  are  necessai'ily  the  fittest  to  survive,  or  that 
the  economically  weak  are  necessarily  the  unfit. 
In  estimating  fitness,  it  looks  to  character  and  per- 
sonality, not  to  possessions.  It  considers  human 
need  rather  than  human  greed.  It  recognizes  that, 
without  the  many  who  comprise  the  economically 
weak,  the  economically  strong  would  cease  to  have 
a  superior  position,  or,  indeed,  any  position.  Social 
justice  would  not  deprive  position  of  its  advantage, 
but  it  would  require  of  advantageous  position,  a 
wider  measure  of  social  service. 

The  Vvisdom  of  a  National  Minimum  in  matters 
of  health  and  well-being  is  not  open  to  question. 
Difference  of  opinion  there  may  well  be  as  to  the 
best  methods  by  which  it  may  be  attained.  Cer- 
tainly, any  doctrine  of  unrestricted  and  unregu- 
lated Competition  can  no  longer  be  defended.  The 
Law  of  Competing  Standards  makes  that  impos- 
sible. Something  more  in  accord  with  the  operation 
of  the  Law  of  Mutual  Aid  is  required.  The  old 
laissez  faire  attitude  of  non-interference  with  per- 
sonal rights  and  private  property  was  based  on 
the  self-interest  of  a  privileged  few,  supported, 
through  a  strange  antithesis,  by  the  theory  that 
"man's  self-love  is  God's  providence";  that  each 
individual  in  seeking  his  own  interest  is  uncon* 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      351 

sciously,  and  as  if  guided  by  some  "Invisible 
Hand,"  working  out  the  good  of  society.  The  atti- 
tude of  mutual  rights  and  obligations  is  essentially 
the  Christian  one,  of  man  as  his  brother's  keeper. 
This  attitude  is  supported,  not  by  a  pious  theory, 
but  by  the  deplorable  fact,  notwithstanding  an 
antithesis  hardly  less  singular,  that  men  are  largely 
indifferent  to  the  well-being  of  their  fellowmen, 
and  that  selfishness  and  greed  know  no  bounds, 
where  they  are  free  to  work  their  will.  Regulation 
and  control  of  Industry  and  Pubhc  Health  are  the 
expression  of  the  necessity  of  protecting  the  Com- 
munity against  the  ignorance,  thoughtlessness,  in- 
difference, and  greed  of  individuals.  Whether  the 
idea  be  congenial  or  not,  the  entire  code  of  safety, 
sanitary,  and  other  regulations  is  a  proclamation  by 
pubhc  authority  that  man  is  his  brother's  keeper, 
and  that  no  man  hveth  unto  himself  alone. 

The  necessity  of  maintaining  standards  in  In- 
dustry is  the  justification  for  the  National  Mini- 
mum advocated  by  the  Labor  Party  in  Britain. 
EnUghtened  employers  may  be  ready  and  willing 
to  guarantee  their  employees  against  interruptions 
in  employment,  to  promote  the  health  and  con- 
tentment of  employees  by  providing  at  their  own 
expense  medical  and  nursing  care  for  the  workers 
and  their  families,  and  by  securing  for  the  em- 
ployees wholesome  and  attractive  housing,  co-oper- 
ative insurance  against  accident  and  sickness,  and 


352  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

means  of  outdoor  and  indoor  recreation;  but  unless 
such  precautionary  measures  are  made  universally 
applicable  and  thereby  incumbent  upon  employers 
generally,  sooner  or  later  unsupported  efforts  of  the 
Idnd  may  become  in  the  nature  of  a  tax  upon  en- 
lightenment. It  is  a  question  whether  the  meeting 
of  social  needs  of  the  kind  should  be  regarded  as 
an  employer's  obligation.  Strictly  speaking,  is  the 
satisfaction  of  such  needs  not  an  obligation  to  be 
shared  by  the  four  parties  to  Industry,  and  not 
properly  the  sole  obligation  of  any  one? 

I  have  referred  in  this  book  specifically  to  four 
investigations  with  which  I  have  had  personally  to 
do :  the  garment-making  industry,  the  operating  of 
telephones,  the  match-making  industry,  and  cot- 
ton-spinning and  weaving.  Many  others  might 
have  been  cited.  I  am  obliged  to  ask  myself  how 
long  any  employer  could  have  maintained  at  his 
own  expense  humane  and  decent  standards  in  these 
industries,  in  the  particulars  above  mentioned,  and 
have  held  out  against  unscrupulous  competitors. 
Save  by  associated  effort  and  mutual  aid,  effected 
under  the  compulsion  of  government  in  some  form, 
I  see  no  way  of  circumventing  the  ill  effects  of 
the  Law  of  Competing  Standards,  and  preventing 
mean  men,  when  brought  into  competition  with 
nobler  natures,  from  profiting  because  of  their 
meanness.  Where,  in  coping  with  inevitable  fears, 
the  State  ensures  fair  play  all  round,  there,  decency 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      353 

and  good-will  receive  their  opportunity,  and  be- 
come of  pecuniary  advantage,  as  well  as  of  advan- 
tage in  other  ways. 

The  doctrine  which  gives  the  State  rights  supe- 
rior to  those  of  the  individual  may  seem  to  present 
resemblances  to  the  theory  which  claims  that  the 
preservation  of  the  State  is  the  supreme  necessity, 
and  that  the  authority  of  the  State  knows  no  supe- 
rior law.  They  not  only  resemble  each  other;  they 
are,  in  fact,  identical,  where  by  the  State  is  meant 
all  the  human  beings  who  comprise  it;  not  an  ab- 
stract idea,  or  some  autocratic  or  privileged  group 
pursuing  selfish  ambitions  in  the  State's  name.  So- 
cial justice  recognizes  the  State  as  beyond  Indus- 
try', but  it  also  recognizes  Humanity  as  beyond  the 
State.  Humanity,  not  the  State,  is  the  supreme  con- 
cern, and  where  this  is  appreciated  no  conflict  can 
arise  as  regards  either  preservation  or  expansion. 

It  is  not  a  National  Mimimum  only,  but  an  In- 
ternational Minimum,  which  is  needed,  if  labor 
standards  are  to  be  protected  against  the  under- 
mining efTects  of  the  Law  of  Competing  Standards 
operating  through  international  competition.  The 
possible  creation  of  some  international  agency  to 
further  the  establishment  and  enforcement  of  in- 
ternational conventions  aimed  at  the  maintenance 
of  an  International  Minimum,  is  a  subject  of  mo- 
mentous concern.  It  is  well  deserving  of  considera- 
tion in  any  discussion  pertaining  to  a  League  of 


354  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Nations  which  may  constitute  a  part  of  the  peace 
negotiations  at  the  conclusion  of  the  War. 


Ill 

While  existing  conditions  may  require  much  in 
the  way  of  remedial  action  on  the  part  of  the  State, 
it  is  well  to  remember  that,  in  whatever  pertains  to 
the  conservation  of  health  and  hfe,  to  prevent  an 
ill  is  infinitely  better  than  to  attempt  to  remedy  it. 
It  is  important  also  to  remember  that  self-help  is 
the  best  of  aids,  and  that  voluntary  effort  not  only 
removes  impediments,  but  develops  self-reliance 
and  knowledge.  Some  degree  of  compulsion  on  the 
part  of  the  State  is  necessary  to  secure  general  en- 
forcement, by  mutual  aid  or  otherwise,  of  stand- 
ards such  as  will  guarantee  to  all  the  National 
Minimum  which  Labor  advocates.  State  aid  in  the 
form  of  financial  assistance  can  be  justified  only  as 
the  one  effective  means  of  preventing  degradation 
in  the  standard  of  hfe. 

Without  the  utmost  wisdom  in  administration, 
social  legislation  may  accentuate  rather  than  lessen 
the  evils  it  would  avoid.  The  subversion  of  motives 
of  thrift  and  industry,  the  discouragement  of  sav- 
ing and  investment,  the  encouragement  of  shift- 
lessness  or  indifference,  are  dangers  inherent  in  any 
scheme  of  social  regeneration  at  the  instance  of  the 
State.    How  to  gain  economic  independence  for 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      355 

workingmen  and  women  under  conditions  which 
necessitate  collective  security;  and  how  to  further 
community  well-being  without  unduly  interfering 
with  individual  freedom  and  character,  are  ever- 
present  problems  in  matters  of  social  legislation. 

It  is  wholly  in  the  spirit  of  preventive  rather  than 
of  remedial  action,  that  health  legislation  must 
be  administered,  and  its  justification  sought.  In  a 
very  true  sense,  so  far  as  community  and  industrial 
values  go,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  remedying  loss 
of  hfe  or  impairment  of  health  through  injury  or 
disease.  The  gaps  which  accident,  sickness,  and 
unemployment  occasion  constitute  blanks  never 
to  be  filled.  Conscription  of  any  kind,  whether 
of  wealth  or  service,  is  palhative  only.  It  can 
never  adequately  compensate  for  loss  of  opportun- 
ity through  unemployment,  sickness,  invalidity,  or 
other  cause. 

Preventive  medicine  is  so  new  a  study  that  its 
existence  and  meaning  are  still  unknown  to  many 
informed  persons.  As  an  act  of  public  caution, 
quarantine  is  more  familiar  than  medical  inspec- 
tion, and  appeals  for  the  support  of  hospitals  and 
sanitaria  are  still  more  urgent  and  general  than 
demands  for  the  spread  of  knowledge  of  the  rudi- 
ments of  sanitation.  There  will  be  no  immunity 
from  disease  until  individuals  and  communities 
become  aware  that  the  real  dangers  are  not  always 
the  known  and  apparent  ones,  but  are  pernicious 


356  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

influences  that  gather  momentum  wdth  time.  The 
manifestation  of  disease  is  a  last  call,  not  a  first 
call,  to  action. 

Fear  is  bred  of  ignorance  and  incapacity.  To 
develop  intelhgence  and  ability  should  be  the  aim 
of  all  preventive  effort  and  all  endeavor  to  equal- 
ize opportunity.  Both  can  be  materially  aided  by 
the  improvement  of  conditions  and  the  spread  of 
knowledge.  Education  is  preventive  rather  than 
remedial.  "To  be  forewarned,  is  to  be  forearmed," 
and  forearming  is  as  necessary  in  encountering  the 
vicissitudes  of  Industry  as  in  combating  the  perils 
of  actual  war.  The  intemperate  man,  the  illiterate 
man,  the  penniless  man,  are  the  first  to  go  to  the 
wall  under  the  pressure  of  unemployment,  sickness, 
accident,  or  advancing  years.  To  provide  against 
intemperance,  illiteracy,  poverty,  and  the  hazards 
of  Industry  by  preventive  and  constructive  meas- 
ures, and  by  a  training  which  will  develop  thrift, 
intelligence,  and  integrity,  is  more  prudent  on  the 
part  of  the  Community  than  to  aim  at  fiUing  gaps 
in  the  depleted  ranks  of  the  weak  by  charges  of  one 
kind  or  another  upon  the  strong. 

"The  American  democracy,"  says  Dr.  Charles 
W.  Eliot,  President-emeritus  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, "has  never  supphed  an  education  which  would 
give  every  child  its  most  appropriate  training  — 
much  less  the  British  democracy.  No  American 
community  has  ever  voted  money  enough  to  the 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      357 

schools  to  accomplish  that  object.  Neither  has  any 
American  community,  or  any  British,  ever  spent 
money  enough  on  the  promotion  of  the  pub  he 
health,  and  the  protection  of  all  classes  from  the 
physical  evils  which  result  from  ignorance,  vice, 
self-indulgence,  wastefulness,  and  sluggishness.  It 
is  certainly  high  time  that  these  grave  errors  should 
be  remedied."^ 

The  social  settlement  stands  as  a  pioneer  in  the 
movement  which  seeks  to  express  the  community 
sense  through  voluntary  effort  related  to  all  aspects 
of  community  life.  It  is  the  neighborhood  idea  con- 
veyed in  a  wholly  natural  manner.  It  recognizes 
that  personal  contact,  study  of  and  familiarity  with 
community  conditions  and  obligations,  sympathy, 
intelligent  direction  of  municipal  activities,  and 
good  government,  are  essential  to  health  and 
happiness.  2 

The  Social  Unit  Organization,  a  model  commu- 
nity experiment  which  aims  at  getting  people  to 
unite  for  better  living  conditions  in  their  own  neigh- 
borhood, is  another  voluntary  effort  along  similar 
lines.  It  is  described  by  its  promoters  as  "  a  munici- 
pal social  laboratory."  A  few  men  and  women  seek 
to  develop  in  a  truly  democratic  way  a  method  of 

*  "The  War's  Lasting  Effects  on  Labor  Problems,"  the  Sunday- 
Herald,  Boston,  July  21,  19 18. 

2  Vide  Jane  Addams,  Twenty  Years  at  Hull  House  (The  Macmil- 
lan  Co.,  New  York,  1910),  also  C.  R.  Henderson*  (Social  Settlements 
(New  York,  Lentilhon  &  Co.,  it 


358  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

organization  by  which  the  people,  through  their 
own  thought  and  effort,  may  secure  for  themselves 
the  things  they  need.  Health,  housing,  sanitation, 
recreation,  and  employment  are  studied  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  common  every-day  hfe  of  people 
in  neighborhoods  or  communities,  and  the  carry- 
ing out  of  the  plan  is  by  the  people  themselves  in 
co-operation  with  persons  engaged  in  the  discharge 
of  public  and  quasi-public  duties.^ 

Movements  of  the  Idnd  of  which  the  social  settle- 
ment and  the  social  unit  organization  are  typical, 
are  necessarily  limited  in  scope  and  influence.  It  is 
in  what  they  represent  of  attitude  that  they  are 
all  important.  They  stand  for  systematic  effort 
with  respect  to  community  well-being  by  an  intel- 
ligent agency,  and  as  such  embody  a  method  that, 
whether  exercised  voluntarily  or  under  pubhc  au- 
thority, must  be  developed  if  communities  are  to 
grow  along  right  hues.  They  render  an  even  more 
important  service.  They  create  a  spirit  of  human 
brotherhood,  and  inspire  an  attitude  toward  social 
problems  which,  carried  in  different  directions  by 
those  who  possess  or  arc  touched  by  it,  will  do  more 
than  aught  else  to  mould  society  anew. 

The  care  with  which  many  new  communities 
are  safeguarding  their  development,  and  the  efTorts 

^  The  National  Social  Unit  Organization  was  founded  in  New  York 
in  1917.  The  Cincinnati  Social  Unit  Organization  is  the  first  socied 
unit  formed  under  its  auspices. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      359 

being  made  in  older  communities  to  eradicate  the 
slum  and  to  develop  suburban  and  garden  city  com- 
munities, by  means  of  cheap  and  rapid  transit  and 
the  control  of  land  values,  are  fine  expressions  of 
the  new  spirit  which  substitutes  a  community  for  a 
property  sense. 

The  growth  of  communities  will  compel  universal 
regard  for  the  new  attitude.  Wide  and  costly  ex- 
perience has  made  it  increasingly  apparent  that  the 
living  problem  in  cities  cannot  be  left  to  the  fortui- 
tous outcome  of  unrelated  and  unregulated  individ- 
ual interest,  and  the  continuous  conflict  of  pubhc 
and  private  interest.  Its  solution  is  possible  only 
through  intelhgent  community  action. 

Town-planning  and  rural  planning  and  develop- 
ment were  ahnost  unthought-of  a  generation  ago. 
To-day  they  are  subjects  of  scientific  study,  and 
compel  the  recognition  of  Government.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  ere  long  pubhc  opinion  will  no  more 
tolerate  the  slum  and  the  overcrowded  tenement 
than  it  would  tolerate  plagues  such  as  were  preva- 
lent a  generation  ago. 

The  garden  city  movement  was  founded  in  Eng- 
land in  1899,  and  has  spread  to  different  countries 
throughout  the  world.  It  recognizes  the  slum  as 
the  product  of  bad  means  of  transit  and  high  land 
values,  combined  with  the  necessity  of  men  living 
near  their  work.  By  providing  cheap  and  rapid 
transit  and  controlhng  land  values,  it  has  been  able 


360  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

"to  provide  a  maximum  of  comfort,  convenience, 
and  happiness  at  the  minimum  of  financial  and 
personal  cost."  "It  marks  a  widening  of  commu- 
nity rights  and  an  enlargement  of  community  serv- 
ices, the  building  of  the  city  by  the  city  itself,  from 
the  foundations  upward  and  from  centre  to  cir- 
cumference." ^ 

The  garden  city  is  in  effect  its  own  landlord.  In- 
directly it  is  a  house  builder  and  house  owner.  The 
ordinary  city  is  left  to  the  unrestrained  hcense  of 
speculators,  builders,  and  owners.  It  is  a  commu- 
nity of  unrelated,  and,  for  the  most  part,  uncon- 
trolled, property  rights.  The  garden  city,  whether 
promoted  by  cities,  co-operative  companies,  or 
private  individuals,  and  whether  it  be  a  self-con- 
tained industrial  community,  a  garden  suburb,  or  a 
factory  village  built  about  a  manufacturing  plant, 
is  a  community  intelligently  planned  and  with  the 
emphasis  always  on  the  rights  of  the  community 
rather  than  on  the  rights  of  the  individual  property 
owner.  The  aim  of  the  garden  city  is  to  bring  divi- 
dends in  human  health  and  happiness  as  well  as  a 
return  on  property  investment.  It  has  plenty  of 
places  of  rest,  recreation,  and  play.  Building  re- 
strictions are  imposed,  and  the  maximum  number 
of  houses  to  the  acre  is  fixed.  The  improved  health 
and  condition  of  employees  due  to  better  homes 

1  The  Garden  Cities  of  England,  by  Frederic  C.  Howe.  Scribner's 
Magazine,  July,  1912.  Reference  to  this  source  is  hereby  acknowl- 
edged. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      361 

and  the  open  air,  yield  a  return  that  pays  for  the 
investment.  The  co-ordination  of  garden  cities 
with  rural  life,  and  of  agriculture  with  the  city, 
keeps  down  the  cost  of  living.  Existing  garden 
communities  have  demonstrated  that  clean,  whole- 
some, comfortable  cottages  are  possible  at  a  low 
rental,  and  that  hfe  is  lengthened,  the  death  and 
infant  mortality  rate  reduced,  and  Labor  in  these 
open-air  communities  rendered  more  efTicient  than 
in  the  cities. 

The  movement  reflecting  the  emphasis  upon 
human  as  contrasted  with  material  considerations 
is  only  at  its  inception.  In  a  multitude  of  directions 
this  is  already  evidenced.  Social  legislation,  which 
had  its  beginnings  in  granting  a  minimum  of  pro- 
tection to  powerless  individuals,  and  a  maximum 
of  protection  to  powerful  corporations,  is  slowly 
reversing  that  strange  antithesis.  Preventive  meas- 
ures are  being  substituted  for  remedial,  in  the  case  of 
both  public  authority  and  voluntary  effort.  Science 
is  no  longer  confined  in  its  application  to  further- 
ing individual  interests,  but  more  and  more  is  help- 
ing community  interests,  in  matters  of  education, 
health  administration,  care  of  children,  and  provi- 
sion for  recreation  and  amusement.  Politics,  hith- 
erto concerned  mostly  with  trade,  diplomacy,  and 
foreign  relations,  have  now  increasingly  to  do  with 
social  problems. 


362  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Science  may  do  much  that  is  yet  undreamed-of 
to  amehorate  the  human  lot.  The  intelhgence  of 
the  world  has  been  at  the  command  of  nations  for 
the  building  of  dreadnaughts,  submarines,  aero- 
planes, and  all  the  organization  and  equipment 
essential  to  the  work  of  destruction.  Wars  will 
altogether  cease  when  Science  is  equally  at  the  serv- 
ice of  the  nations  to  further  the  principles  under- 
lying health,  in  the  building  of  houses,  developing 
transportation,  designing  cities,  controlling  land, 
improving  sanitation,  and  eliminating  slums. 

In  Industry  the  application  of  Science  has  been  for 
the  most  part  to  the  material  processes  in  produc- 
tion and  to  mechanical  organization,  and  not  to  the 
problems  of  health,  vitality,  and  harmonious  rela- 
tions. The  insufficiency  of  organized  effort  to  bring 
the  results  of  Science  to  bear  upon  the  welfare  of  the 
masses  of  the  people  and  social  problems  is  being 
recognized.  The  time  may  yet  come  when  it  will  be 
everywhere  seen  that  the  maintenance  of  standards 
of  health  is  the  surest  means  of  maintaining  stand- 
ards of  efficiency;  and  when  intelligence  will  be  not 
less  at  the  command  of  sure  returns  in  hfe  than  it  is 
at  the  command  to-day  of  sure  returns  in  money 
values. 

The  subordination  of  the  claims  of  Industry  to 
those  of  Humanity  may  necessitate  a  regard  for 
human  life  which,  in  the  effort  to  prevent  the  sacri- 
fice of  thousands  of  lives  to  the  ambition  of  one, 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  HEALTH      363 

will  place  one  human  life  above  any  industrial 
achievement.  What  this  may  demand  of  individual 
states,  and  require  in  the  way  of  international  ar- 
rangement, can  scarcely  be  conjectured.  In  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  standards  of  health  and  well- 
being,  the  world-scope  of  forces  at  work  makes 
their  presence  felt  as  nowhere  else.  The  state  that 
seeks  to  enforce  worthy  standards  in  Industry  is 
handicapped  by  the  states  that  are  wholly  indiffer- 
ent. The  nation  that  has  reached  high  levels  in  its 
concern  for  human  hfe,  is  handicapped  by  the  coun- 
tries that  have  still  to  learn  the  meaning  of  conser- 
vation. To  bring  Industry  everywhere  within  the 
control  of  effective  regulation  is  the  one  great  prob- 
lem of  Education  and  Government.  It  will  never 
be  completely  solved  until  regulation  becomes  a 
matter  of  international  concern.  Each  nation  may 
yet  find  the  salvation  of  its  own  industrial  hfe 
by  losing  itself  in  an  effort  to  save  the  industrial 
lives  of  other  and  rival  nations.  It  is  in  such  ways, 
through  the  course  of  time,  that  the  economy  of 
God  gains  world  expression. 


CHAPTER  X 
REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY 

If  Industry  is  to  advance  material  and  social  well- 
being,  which  is  its  twofold  purpose,  there  must  be 
continuous  co-operation  between  all  parties  in  the 
application  of  principles  underlying  Peace,  Work, 
and  Health.  How  to  obtain  such  co-operation  is 
the  supreme  task.  Fundamentally,  it  is  a  matter  of 
attitude  and  spirit.  Mutual  trust  born  of  whole- 
hearted belief  in  the  common  interests  of  Industry 
must  supersede  the  distrust  which  arises  out  of  mis- 
givings concerning  opposed  interests.  Fear  must 
give  way  to  Faith,  in  the  several  relations.  There 
must  be  consciousness  of  a  common  aim  in  a  com- 
mon venture  in  which  gains  and  losses  ahke  are 
shared. 

The  venture  common  to  all  in  Industry  is  the 
investment  by  each  of  some  share  of  his  hfe  or  for- 
tune. The  aim  common  to  all  is  that  each  may 
render  a  much  needed  social  service,  and  share  as 
largely  as  possible  in  the  joint  product.  Such  a 
venture  combined  with  such  an  aim  is  none  other 
than  a  partnership.  A  partnership,  in  fact,  as  well 
as  in  name,  is  what  Industry  must  become  if  its 
twofold  purpose  is  to  be  achieved  with  a  maximum 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         365 

of_  good-will  and  efficiency,  and  a  minimum  of 
waste  of  effort  and  materials.  Partnership,  to  be 
worthy  the  name,  presupposes  a  wiUingness  to 
share  all  along  the  hne,  to  share  in  a  knowledge  and 
understanding  of  the  enterprise  as  a  whole,  and  of 
each  other's  rights  and  duties,  to  share  progres- 
sively in  gains  and  proportionately  in  losses,  and 
finally  to  share  in  the  control  and  the  determination 
of  policy.  If  Industry  is  to  be  conducted  on  a  part- 
nership basis,  each  of  the  contributing  partners  is 
entitled  to  share  in  all  these  particulars. 

The  principle  of  Round  Table  Conference  under- 
lies partnership.  In  an  association  as  vast  as  that 
comprising  Capital,  Labor,  Management,  and  the 
Community,  —  whether  related  to  individual  en- 
terprise or  to  Industry  generally,  —  the  rights  and 
duties  of  partnership  in  the  organization  and  con- 
trol of  Industry  obviously  must  be  effected  through 
some  device  of  Representation.  If  a  genuine  part- 
nership can  be  so  effected,  and  the  principle  of 
Round  Table  Conference  thus  find  an  accepted 
place  in  the  control  of  Industry,  its  results  cannot 
be  other  than  beneficial  and  far-reaching.  It  should 
afford  to  the  several  parties  to  Industry  the  means 
of  gaining  a  more  adequate  understanding  of  the 
significance  of  their  respective  functions  in  the  va- 
rious processes;  it  should  ensure  that  direct  inter- 
est in  the  success  of  the  undertaking  as  a  whole, 
so  essential  to  highest  efficiency;  it  should  foster 


366  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  co-operative  and  social  spirit  aimed  at  by 
those  who  would  promote  the  organization  of  In- 
dustry on  such  lines  of  voluntary  association  as 
copartnership,  and  other  forms  of  co-operation.  It 
should,  wliilst  avoiding  their  inherent  weaknesses, 
further  the  aim  which  Municipal  and  State  Social- 
ism, and  Collectivism,  seek  to  effect  by  means  of  a 
compulsory  change  in  the  ownership  of  the  instru- 
ments of  production.  It  should  alford  the  most 
effective  method  of  acquainting  all  the  parties  to 
production  with  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
Vocational  Training  and  Technical  Education, 
from  the  introduction  of  Labor-Saving  Machinery 
and  Scientific  Management,  from  Profit-Sharing 
and  other  forms  of  Industrial  Remuneration  and 
Organization,  wherever  these  methods  give  promise 
of  reducing  the  cost  of  production  and  increasing 
efficiency.  Whilst  contributing  to  secure  to  Man- 
agement and  to  Capital  a  progressive  increase  in 
the  profits  of  Industry,  it  should  help  to  ensure 
to  Labor,  progressive  improvement  in  wages  and 
hours  and  in  other  worldng  conditions,  and  to 
the  Community,  progressive  enhancement  of  pur- 
chasing power  in  correspondence  with  increasing 
productivity.  Finally,  in  whatever  pertains  to 
human  well-being,  it  should  help  to  ensure  the 
maintenance  of  a  "National  Minimum"  through 
associated  effort  and  mutual  aid. 
Dr.  Eliot  says : 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         367 

"To  obtain  the  highest  degree  of  efTectiveness  in 
any  nation's  industries,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
bring  about  permanent  industrial  peace,  a  new  dis- 
covery or  invention  must  be  made  —  the  discovery 
of  the  way  to  make  a  genuine  partnership  between 
Capital  and  Labor  practicable  in  every  business 
which  is  conducted  for  a  profit  and  is  steady  and 
permanent  rather  than  experimental  and  transient. 
Some  of  the  most  important  employments  are  not 
conducted  for  a  profit  —  such  as  household  work, 
national,  state,  and  municipal  services,  and  the 
services  of  religious,  charitable,  and  educational  in- 
stitutions. In  them  there  can  be  no  partnership  be- 
tween Capital  and  Labor  and  no  profit-sharing.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  every  continuous  business  which 
is  conducted  for  a  profit,  there  is  great  need,  to  se- 
cure highest  effectiveness,  of  an  automatic  method 
of  creating  and  maintaining  for  both  Capital  and 
Labor  a  common  continuous  interest  in  the  success 
of  the  particular  manufacturing,  mining,  or  trad- 
ing establishment  in  which  both  are  enhsted.  The 
great  discovery  to  be  made  is  a  working  form  of 
profit-sharing,  in  each  estabhshment,  the  appli- 
cations being  very  various,  while  the  principle  re- 
mains one.  Any  durable  method  will  include  some 
form  of  co-operative  management  and  a  complete 
disclosure  of  the  accounts  of  the  business  to  repre- 
sentatives of  the  working  force."  ^ 

Does  not  the  great  discovery  of  which  Dr.  Eliot 
speaks  he  in  viewing  the  fundamental  problem  of 
Industry  as  one  primarily  of  government?  Has  Dr. 
Ehot  himself  not  forecast  the  discovery,  in  suggest- 
ing the  need  of  some  form  of  co-operative  manage- 

1  Boston  Sunday  Herald,  July  21,  1918. 


368  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ment,  rendered  possible  through  the  principle  of 
representation  apphed  to  government  in  Industry? 
Perhaps  the  expression  "community  of  control" 
possesses,  in  this  connection,  advantages  superior 
to  those  of  the  words  "co-operative  management,'* 
since,  in  the  minds  of  many,  Management  is  a 
function  which  does  not  admit  of  divided  author- 
ity. Whilst  Management  may  well  remain  an 
administrative  function  exerciseable  in  Industry 
without  interference  from  Capital,  Labor,  or  the 
Community,  there  would  appear  to  be  no  reason 
why  its  authority,  as  respects  matters  of  immedi- 
ate concern  to  the  other  parties,  should  not  be  re- 
stricted in  accordance  with  predetermined  pohcy 
arrived  at  in  such  a  manner  as  to  represent  the 
interests  of  all.  Community  of  control,  effected 
through  the  principle  of  Representation,  would  be 
co-operative  management  in  its  truest  and  fullest 
sense. 

Once  the  principle  of  Round  Table  Conference, 
with  adequate  representation  of  all  the  parties  to 
Industry,  is  made  the  basis  of  government  in  In- 
dustry, Fear  will  give  way  to  Faith;  the  conflict  of 
opposed  interests  will  vanish  before  an  understand- 
ing of  common  interests;  the  principles  which  un- 
derlie Peace,  Work,  and  Health  will  fmd  ready 
apphcation;  and  Industry  itself  will  gain  that  spirit 
of  hearty  co-operation  and  constructive  good-will 
which  means  its  highest  efficiency  both  as  an  in- 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         369 

strument  of  production  and  as  an  agency  of  social 
service. 

Partnership  is  essentially  a  matter  of  status.  It 
does  not  involve  identity  or  similarity  of  function 
on  the  part  of  the  partners,  or  equahty  of  either 
service  or  rewards;  but  it  does  imply  equality,  as 
respects  the  right  of  representation,  in  the  deter- 
mination of  pohcy  on  matters  of  common  interest. 
Thus  far,  this  principle  has  largely  failed  of  rec- 
ognition. The  justice  of  the  principle,  however,  is 
apparent. 

Investment  in  Industry  is  recognized  as  affording 
a  right  to  share  in  corporate  control.  Capital  and 
Management  receive  representation  on  this  basis. 
If  Capital  and  Management  are  so  entitled,  why 
not  Labor  also?  Industry,  as  pointed  out,  is  a  joint 
venture,  a  venture  of  Labor  as  well  as  of  Capital, 
and  of  the  Community  as  well  as  of  Management. 
The  difference  in  the  nature  of  the  investments 
of  Capital  and  Labor  only  serves  to  emphasize  the 
fundamental  justice  of  Labor's  right  to  representa- 
tion. The  investment  of  Capital  is  an  investment 
in  the  nature  of  substances  and  dollars;  the  invest- 
ment of  Labor  is  an  investment  in  the  nature  of 
skill  and  life.  The  one  is  a  material,  the  other  a 
human,  investment.  Both,  however,  are  invest- 
ments; and  of  the  two,  the  one  involving  hfe  is 
the  more  precious. 


370  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

The  capital  investor,  the  individual  who  in  In- 
dustry loans  and  risks  his  capital,  or  a  part  of  it, 
receives  for  the  use  of  his  capital  a  return  in  the 
form  of  interest.  But  he  receives  something  more : 
he  becomes,  as  an  investor,  entitled  to  a  voice  in 
the  control  of  the  industry  in  which  his  investment 
is  made.  The  life  or  labor  investor,  the  worker  who 
in  Industry,  loans  and  risks'^his  hfe,  or  gives  that 
part  of  it  described  as  "labor"  to  Industry,  receives 
/  for  his  labor,  which  is  the  use  of  his  life  and  skill  for 
!  the  time  in  which  labor  is  given,  a  return  in  the 
/  form  of  wages.  He  lacks,  however,  the  additional 
\  right,  which  Capital  receives,  of  a  share  in  the 
government  of  Industry.  If  Capital  obtains  this 
right  in  addition  to  the  financial  reward  for  the  use 
of  capital  for  the  time  for  which  it  is  invested,  is 
Labor  not  in  justice  equally  entitled,  in  addition 
to  its  monetary  reward,  to  a  voice  in  the  control 
of  Industry,  in  which  for  the  time  being  its  life  and 
skill  are  invested?  As  a  life  or  labor  investor,  is  the 
worker's  interest  in  Industry  not  akin  to  that  of  the 
investor  of  capital?  If  investment  in  Industry  has 
any  meaning  at  all,  it  is  surely  one  equally  shared 
by  the  man  who  gives  his  labor  and  the  man  who 
gives  his  capilal. 

For  the  preferential  treatment  Capital  has  thus 
far  received,  there  is  no  defence  possible  on  grounds 
of  democratic  theory  or  fundamental  justice,  only 
an  explanation.    Capital  has  been  able  to  wait; 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY       371 

Labor  has  not.  Capital,  through  its  abiUty  to  wait, 
has  been  in  a  position  to  compel  a  voice.  Labor  has 
seldom  been  in  that  position,  and  therefore  has 
remained,  for  the  most  part,  unrepresented. ^ 

The  Community's  right  to  representation  in  the 
control  of  Industry,  and  in  the  shaping  of  industrial 
pohcies,  is  wholly  similar  to  that  of  Labor.  But  for 
Community  investment  on  a  local,  national,  and 
international  scale.  Capital,  Labor,  and  Manage- 
ment would  be  obliged  to  make  scant  shrift  under 
present-day  conditions  of  world  competition.  In 
large  enterprise,  much  is  said  of  the  magic  of  Capi- 
tal and  the  genius  of  Management.  The  Commu- 
nity as  a  contributing  factor  is  scarcely  thought  of. 
The  silent  partner  remains  the  unmentioned  part- 
ner as  well.  But  what  of  the  Community's  part  in 
Industry?  Here,  too,  is  joint  venture:  venture 
on  the  part  of  the  Community,  just  as  much  as 
on  the  part  of  Labor,  Capital,  or  Management. 
What  is  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  the  expenditure 
of  Government  in  normal  times,  but  outlays  in  the 
nature  of  investment  in  Industry:  investment  in 
property  and  services  of  one  kind  or  another  which 
alone  makes  possible  the  vast  co-operation  and  co- 
ordination of  effort  which  is  the  very  life-blood  of 
Industry? 

The  vaster  industrial  organization  becomes,  the 

^  The  reader  is  referred  to  an  article  entitled  "  Democratization  of 
Industry,"  by  Donald  R.  Richberg,  in  The  Neio  Republic,  May  12, 
191 7,  reference  to  which  is  hereby  acknowledged.  % 


372  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

more  it  depends,  in  a  multitude  of  directions,  upon 
the  investments  of  the  Community.  In  bonuses, 
bounties,  subsidies,  and  the  hke  voted  to  specific 
enterprises  by  municipahties  and  states,  there  is  an 
actual  money  investment  by  the  Community  cor- 
responding to  the  money  investments  of  capitahsts. 
As  a  rule,  it  receives  no  recognition,  in  the  form  of 
either  interest  payments  or  participation  in  control. 
Nor  is  any  participation  in  control  conceded  to  the 
Community  because  of  the  protection  not  infre- 
quently afforded  Industry  by  means  of  tariffs  and 
in  other  ways  which  involve  increased  outlays  on 
the  part  of  consumers. 

Attention  has  already  been  directed  to  what 
Government  and  social  organization  make  possible. 
Due  regard  for  this  will  lead  to  an  appreciation  of 
the  part  played  by  the  Community.  ^  Without  the 
maintenance  of  law  and  order,  of  diplomatic  and 
consular  services,  of  agencies  of  transportation  and 
communication,  of  systems  of  money  and  credit,  of 
means  w^hich  render  the  fruits  of  discovery  and  in- 
vention immediately  and  continuously  available, 
to  say  nothing  of  a  thousand  and  one  other  con- 
siderations, for  all  of  which  the  Community  is 
involved  in  continuous  outlays,  Capital,  Manage- 
ment, and  Labor  would  effect  very  httle  by  way 
of  hnldng  the  world's  sources  of  supply  witli  the 
world's  demand,  or  by  way  of  transforming  natural 

1  Vide  chapter  v,  "  The  Parties  to  Industry." 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         373 

resources  into  commodities  and  services  available 
for  use. 

Community  investment  is  supposed  to  receive  its 
return  in  enhanced  purchasing  power  to  consumers 
as  respects  the  number  and  quahty  of  available 
services  and  commodities.  This  is  a  return  akin  to 
the  interest  Capital  receives,  and  to  the  wages 
Labor  receives.  But  is  not  the  Community  equally 
entitled,  on  grounds  of  investment,  to  representa- 
tion in  the  control  of  Industry  and  the  shaping  of 
industrial  pohcies?  To  ignore  this  right,  is  to  per- 
mit the  other  parties,  whilst  reaping  rewards  in 
increasing  measure  through  its  benefactions,  to 
exploit  the  Community  and  to  profit  at  its  expense. 

Without  representation  of  the  Community  in  the 
control  of  Industry,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent 
the  emergence  of  a  joint-profiteering  scheme  by  the 
other  parties,  in  which  high  wages  and  high  profits 
are  secured  by  charges  which  fall  either  immedi- 
ately of  ultimatiely  upon  consumers.  There  ought 
to  be  security  of  Industry  as  a  whole,  and  of 
consumers,  against  possible  unjust  exactions  and 
monopoly  through  a  control  which  represents  only 
producers.  The  inherent  right  of  the  State  to  ex- 
ercise authority  at  any  time  in  any  direction  is  not 
hkely  to  prove  sufficient  to  prevent  oversight  or  j 
deception.  Something  in  the  nature  of  direct  repre-  ,' 
sentation  of  the  Community  is  required,  either  by 
specially  designated  representatives  or  through  a 


374  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

compulsory  publicity  of  facts  sufficient  to  permit  of 
the  formation  of  an  intelligent  and  effective  Public 
Opinion. 

Mr.  Theodore  P.  Shonts,  President  of  the  dual 
subway  system  of  New  York,  has  recently  outlined 
a  form  of  partnership  arrangement  apphcable  to 
the  railroads  of  America,  which  takes  account  of 
the  necessary  representation  in  control  of  all  the 
parties  to  Industry.  That  the  pubhc  need  for  rail- 
roads should  be  determined  by  public  authority  is 
regarded  as  of  primary  importance.  It  is  suggested 
that  extensions  and  improvements  be  financed  by 
the  companies  and  the  Government  in  partnership. 
As  respects  control,  it  is  suggested  that  supreme 
authority  be  vested  in  a  central  board  consisting 
of  representatives  of  the  public,  of  the  railway  in- 
vestors, and  of  railway  Labor.  The  Government 
under  this  plan  would  determine  what  transporta- 
tion facilities  should  be  furnished ;  it  would  likewise 
have  the  final  determination  of  the  charges  to  be 
made  for  the  use  of  such  facilities.  Such  a  plan 
recognizes  that  an  adequate  transportation  system 
is  essential  to  the  national  health  and  prosperity; 
that  purely  private  enterprise,  whether  subject  to 
Government  regulation  or  not,  is  not  to  be  reUed 
upon  to  secure  such  a  system;  and  that  there  are 
decided  limitations  in  public  ownership.^ 

*  Vide  article  entillod  "Instead  of  Public  Ownership,"  by  AJvin 
Johnson,  in  Tli£  New  Republic,  April  20,  1918. 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         375 

The  exclusive  attitude  in  the  matter  of  control 
on  the  part  of  Capital  and  Management  is  all  too 
plainly  evidenced  in  the  present  form  of  corporate 
organization  of  Industry.  The  term  shareholder  is 
confined  to  those  who  invest  money.  As  share- 
holders or  stockholders,  they  elect  the  directors,  the 
directors  choose  the  officers,  the  officers  manage  the 
business,  and  manage  it  so  as  to  make  as  good  a 
showing  as  possible  in  dividends  to  the  stockhold- 
ers. There  is  no  suggestion  in  the  form  of  organiza- 
tion that  the  corporation  is  run  as  if  the  concern  of 
those  who  contribute  their  lives,  as  well  as  of  those 
who  contribute  their  money;  or  as  if  the  concern  of 
the  public,  whose  contributions  through  taxation 
in  its  many  forms  may  far  exceed  the  invest- 
ments of  stockholders.  Estimated  by  respective 
total  rewards,  Labor  investment  in  Industry  is 
usually  many  times  the  investment  of  Capital; 
and  estimated  by  the  showing  of  public  accounts, 
financial  outlays  by  the  State  of  immediate  con- 
cern to  Industry  rival  the  investments  of  private 
capital.  Yet  there  is  no  apparent  representation  of 
either  Labor  or  the  Community  in  the  corporate 
control  of  Industry. 

This  undemocratic  and  exclusive  attitude  is  fur- 
ther reflected  by  forms  of  expression  and  terminol- 
ogy so  congenial  to  many  capitalist  investors  and 
large  employers  of  Labor.  In  speaking  of  businesses 
they  manage,  or  in  which  they  hold  investments, 


376  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  personal  possessive  comes  naturally  to  their 
lips.  There  is  nothing  suggestive  in  their  language 
of  any  real  partnership  with  either  Labor  or  the 
Community.  On  the  contrary,  the  existence  of 
Labor  and  the  Community  is  often  wholly  ignored. 
And  yet  a  very  slight  appreciation  of  the  nature  of 
industrial  operations  reveals  that  it  is  the  industry 
as  carried  on  by  all  concerned  which  ultimately 
pays  the  price  of  the  plant  and  equipment,  pays  the 
cost  of  the  Labor,  and  supplies  Capital  with  its 
return  in  the  nature  of  interest;  that,  in  reality. 
Labor  and  the  Community  are  necessary  partners 
in  production  along  with  Capital  and  Manage- 
ment. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  ere  long  the  personal  pos- 
sessive, as  employed  by  individuals  in  reference  to 
businesses  of  which  they  are  the  heads,  or  in  which 
they  hold  capital  investments,  will  sound  as  archaic 
as  does  its  belated  use  by  some  of  the  monarchs  of 
Europe.  Albert  of  Belgium  disclosed  his  sjTiipathy 
with  the  spirit  of  Democracy,  and  his  understand- 
ing of  co-operation  in  government,  when,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  War,  he  addressed  the  as- 
sembled representatives  of  Belgium  as  "Broth- 
ers," and  spoke  of  "out*  country,"  ''our  cause,"  and 
''our  army,"  eUminating  from  his  court  vocabulary 
such  relics  of  feudal  usage  as  "my  subjects,''  "my 
armies,"  and  "my  navy."  If  conflicting  theories 
are  to  be  harmonized,  and  an  enduring  unity  main- 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         377 

tained,  expression  in  form  and  substance  of  the 
democratic  spirit  and  co-operative  ideal  is  as  nec- 
essary to  industrial  government  as  to  democratic 
government  in  the  State. 

The  undemocratic  form  of  organization  is  un- 
happily even  more  characteristic  of  Industry  as  a 
whole  than  of  individual  enterprises.  Too  often,  as 
Donald  Richberg  has  pointed  out,^  the  interwoven 
financial,  manufacturing,  distributing,  and  selling 
interests  which  dominate  Commerce  have  consti- 
tuted a  complete  oligarchy  extending  its  control 
over  Industry,  and  beyond  Industry  over  Govern- 
ment. Such  control  in  nations  that  are  pohtically 
free,  is,  as  this  writer  suggests,  "in  the  nature  of  an 
industrial  feudahsm  persisting  in  and  dominating 
political  democracy." 

The  necessity  of  something  in  the  nature  of  part- 
nership, of  joint-control  of  Industry  by  all  its  par- 
ties, is  becoming  more  and  more  apparent  as  mo- 
nopoly of  control  is  tried  in  different  directions. 
Joint-control  along  with  the  other  parties  to  In- 
dustry is  better  for  the  other  parties,  and  better 
for  Capital  and  Management,  than  Capital  or  Man- 
agement control  exercised  apart  from  Labor  and 
the  Community.  The  consequences  of  the  over- 
sight of  Labor  and  the  Community,  as  partners 
entitled  to  representation  in  the  government  of 

*  Idem,  supra.  ^ 


378  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Industr3%  have  been  unfortunate.   Labor  and  the 
Community  have  come  to  exercise  a  separatist 
control  in  consequence  of  the  disregard  of  their  just 
claims  to  representation  as  partners  in  Industry. 
Their  interests  not  being  defmitely  recognized,  or 
represented  in  industrial  control,  Labor  and  the 
Community  have   become  collectively  organized 
that  they  may  be  represented  at  least  in  effective 
opposition  to  the  exclusive  control  of  Capital  and 
j  of  Management.   In  the  case  of  Labor,  this  collec- 
'  tive  organization  has  taken  the  form  of  a  mihtant 
^Unionism.   In  the  case  of  the  Community,  it  has 
/taken  the  form  of  an  aggressive  State  Socialism 
'which  aims  at  collectivist  control  in  both  the  own- 
/  ership  of  capital  and  the  management  of  Industry. 
Labor  believes  that  its  exclusion  from  representa- 
tion in  the  control  of  Industry  has  led  to  vast  injus- 
tice, and  to  the  organization  of  business  for  profit 
alone;  and  that  it  has  occasioned  at  times  the  mis- 
use of  ofTicial  power  by  the  courts,  the  police,  and 
military  authorities  in  support  of  arbitrary  conduct 
on  the  part  of  corporations.  Herein  lies  the  fun- 
damental cause  of  the  warfare  between  Capital 
and  Labor.  Denied  opportunity  to  co-operate  with 
Capital,  Labor  competes  with  Capital.   Industrial 
Ufe,  instead  of  being  in  the  nature  of  a  partnership, 
becomes  a  sort  of  guerrilla  warfare  in  which  Capital 
seeks  to  increase  profits  at  the  expense  of  Labor, 
and  Labor  seeks  to  increase  wages  at  the  expense 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         379 

of  Capital.  On  the  one  side  is  a  misunderstanding 
of  producing  costs;  on  the  other  side,  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  workers'  needs  and  aspirations. 
Strikes  and  lockouts  are  the  crude  expression  of  the 
resentment  which  this  mutual  misunderstanding 
begets.  Until  Labor  and  Capital  are  both  demo- 
cratically represented  in  the  control  of  the  business 
carr^dng  their  respective  investments,  this  warfare 
and  anarchy  are  certain  to  persist.  The  organiza- 
tion of  business,  its  terminology  and  its  spirit,  must 
all  change  if  Industry  is  to  fulfill  its  true  mission 
and  be  made  to  reflect  a  real  partnership. 

Industry  based  on  its  present  competitive,  profit- 
making  system  creates  and  sustains  bitter  strife  be- 
tween different  classes  in  society.  Were  our  vision 
sufficiently  clear,  we  should  see  that  this  struggle 
Ues  at  the  root  of  the  appalhng  upheaval  taldng 
place  at  the  present  moment  between  the  armies  of 
the  world.  Unless  Industry  comes  to  be  viewed  as 
national  servdce,  and  the  profits  of  Industry  are 
fairly  divided  between  the  capitalist,  manager, 
worker,  and  consumer,  we  can  never  hope  for  in- 
dustrial peace.  The  association  of  Labor  and  the 
Community  with  Capital  and  Management,  in  de- 
termining policy  with  respect  to  matters  in  which 
each  is  vitally  concerned,  is  all-important. 

A  change  from  the  old  order  to  the  new  cannot 
be  brought  about  by  a  coup  de  main.  There  must 
be  a  long  period  of  preparation  and  transition  be- 


380  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

fore  the  parties  to  Industry  hitherto  unrepresented 
in  control  are  in  a  position  effectively  to  exert  the 
powers  which  even  now  they  are  acquiring.  Every- 
thing depends  upon  whether  the  orientation  of  the 
new  world  which  the  War  is  evolving  will  or  will 
not  be  toward  this  view  of  society.  The  basis  of 
society  must  in  time  be  altered  fundamentally  if 
we  are  to  have  true  national  and  international 
peace,  and  the  development  of  the  best  quahties  of 
independence  and  self-respect  among  all  classes  in 
society. 

Faihng  achievement  of  joint-control  in  Industry, 
the  only  alternative  is  a  continuance  of  conflict  of 
controls.  As  matters  stand  at  the  present  time, 
there  is  control  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  by  each 
of  the  several  parties;  but,  collectively  regarded,  it 
is  a  control  wholly  at  cross-purposes  with  itself. 
Instead  of  a  united  control  expressive  of  a  har- 
mony of  interests  among  partners,  it  is  a  struggle 
for  supremacy  of  control,  in  which  the  parties  are 
arrayed  as  opposing  forces,  conspiring  and  combin- 
ing against  each  other  like  so  many  warring  na- 
tions. A  militant  Trade-unionism  claims  exclusive 
right  to  speak  in  the  name  of  Labor  and  to  enforce 
its  newly  acquired  control  by  the  weapon  of  the 
strike,  regardless  altogether  of  the  interests  and 
well-being  of  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Com- 
munity. An  autocratic  Management  seeks  the 
maintenance  of  its  accustomed  control  by  exercis- 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         381 

ing  arbitrary  powers  regardless  of  their  social  con- 
sequences, claiming  for  itself  exclusive  right  in  the 
employment  and  dismissal  of  Labor,  while  denying 
to  Labor  the  right  of  membership  in  associations 
for  its  self-protection.  A  defiant  Capitalism  asserts 
its  privileged  control  by  thwarting  the  principle  of 
Collective  Bargaining,  and  circumventing,  in  divers 
ways,  the  Community's  right  to  just  treatment  in 
matters  of  prices  and  rates.  Finally,  a  State,  be- 
coming more  and  more  Socialistic,  proclaims  the 
Community's  long  neglected  authority  by  a  con- 
trol which  Capital  and  Management  feel  is  indiffer- 
ent to  their  functions. 

Here  of  a  certainty  is  anything  but  Round  Table 
Conference;  anything  but  a  conception  of  Partner- 
ship. The  parties  to  Industry  have  a  voice,  and 
each  makes  its  voice  heard;  not,  however,  in  the 
respectful  tones  of  partners,  seeking,  on  a  basis  of 
representation,  the  promotion  of  a  common  inter- 
est. With  neither  aim  nor  method  in  common,  each 
obtains  its  hearing  in  virtue  only  of  the  injury  it  is 
capable  of  inflicting,  or  the  power  or  might  it  is  in 
a  position  to  command.  Within  individual  enter- 
prises, it  is  much  the  same  as  with  Industry  as  a 
whole.  Instead  of  a  fraternal  attitude  between  the 
parties,  there  is  too  often  a  sort  of  disguised  truce 
between  Management  and  Capital  on  the  one  side 
and  Labor  and  the  Community  on  the  other.  They 
look  at  each  other,  as  one  writer  has  expressed  it, 


382  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

"across  No  Man's  Land,"  an  area  of  ever-present 
possible  conflict  which,  in  their  common  interest, 
ought  to  be  the  ground  of  joint  approach. 

Once  the  thought  is  grasped  that  in  matters  of 
government  in  Industry,  forms  are  wholly  second- 
ary, that  attitude  and  spirit  are  all-important,  and 
that  the  application  of  right  principles  never  fails 
to  effect  right  relations,  the  real  advance  will  have 
begun.  That  is  why  joint-control,  as  the  funda- 
mental idea  underlying  government  in  Industry, 
means  so  much.  It  emphasizes  the  common  inter- 
ests and  the  common  aim;  it  reheves  antagonisms,/ 
and  it  thwarts  coercion;  it  diininishes  Fear,  and  it  I 
establishes  Faith.  ) 

In  the  absence  of  representation  of  all  the  par- 
ties to  Industry  in  visible  directorates,  it  does 
not  follow  that  industry  must  fail  of  joint-control. 
Equal  representation  in  a  single  directorate  is 
doubtless  an  ideal  to  be  cherished,  since  it  symbol- 
izes partnership  on  a  basis  as  real  as  it  is  appar- 
ent. Joint-control,  however,  may  be  effected,  and  is 
being  effected,  in  a  variety  of  ways.  It  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  it  will  become  exerciseable  at  one 
and  the  same  time  as  respects  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  Industry.  One  day  it  will  be  policy  as  to  one 
feature  that  will  be  so  decided;  another  day,  it  will 
be  policy  as  respects  other  and  wholly  different 
matters.  To-day  it  may  be  agreement  upon  a  min- 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         383 

imum  wage,  or  methods  of  adjusting  industrial  dif- 
ferences; to-morrow,  it  may  be  the  fixation  of  a 
trade  agreement  governing  all  conditions  of  em- 
ployment, between  Management  and  Labor,  the 
rate  of  return  guaranteed  to  Capital,  and  the  prices 
at  which  commodities  and  services  are  to  be  made 
available  to  the  Community. 

Already  a  substantial  though  incomplete  ap- 
proach has  been  made  in  a  direct  way,  through 
voluntary  agreement  and  collective  bargaining  be- 
tween Capital  and  Labor,  and  through  the  exten- 
sion of  State  control  over  Industry,  where  it  has 
been  carried  on  jointly  with  the  other  parties. 
Collective  bargaining  has  been  confined  thus  far 
to  two,  or  at  most  to  three,  of  the  parties  to  Indus-| 
try.  Seldom  have  the  interests  of  all  four  had  di-) 
rect  representation  and  consideration  in  common.^^ 
Where  joint-control  has  been  exercised  through  the 
State,  usually  the  identity  of  the  parties  has  been 
merged  in  the  instrument  of  government  so  com- 
pletely as  to  be  almost  lost. 

Because  of  the  blending  of  political  and  indus- 
trial government  and  the  shifting  of  influence  as 
Detween  the  many  groups  who  share  pohtical  con- 
trol, it  is  often  very  difficult  to  determine  the  na- 
ture and  extent  of  the  representation  which  may 
actually  be  effected  in  this  way.  There  may  be  an 
indirect  joint-control  of  Industry,  through  political 
control  on  the  part  of  Labor  and  the  Community, 


384  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

just  as  effective  as  the  direct  joint-control  by  Cap- 
ital and  Management.  Even  that  pernicious  form 
of  joint-control  known  as  "invisible  government," 
which  Capital  in  alhance  with  politicians  has  some- 
times exercised,  may  be  exercised  in  no  small  meas- 
ure by  Labor  also.  Where,  in  relation  to  Govern- 
ment, joint-control  is  not  openly  practised,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  it  is  attempted  through  pohtical 
intrigue. 

Most  of  what  has  been  accomphshed  through 
ordinance  and  legislation  by  way  of  regulating 
hours,  wages,  sanitary  and  other  conditions  of  em- 
ployment, inspecting  premises  and  commodities,  as 
well  as  what  has  been  effected  in  the  nature  of  pub- 
lic ownership  and  state  and  municipal  control  of  tar- 
iffs, rates,  and  prices,  and  all  of  the  so-called  "social 
legislation,"  is  expressive  of  the  control  of  Indus- 
try exerciseable  by  the  Community  through  pohti- 
cal government.  Much  of  it  indicates  a  control  by 
Labor  exerciseable  in  the  same  way.  Management 
and  Capital  have  sometimes  led  in  promoting  this 
larger  control,  the  actuating  motive  of  which  has 
been  the  pubhc  interest.  For  the  most  part,  how- 
ever, their  co-operation  has  been  grudgingly  given. 
It  is  unfortunately  true  that  such  control  as  Man- 
agement and  Capital  have  exercised  through  politi- 
cal government  has  been  too  often  of  the  invisible 
kind  which  has  sought  to  obtain  or  to  maintain 
special  privilege,  and  to  block  progressive  legisla- 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         385 

tion  which  subsequent  experience  has  frequently 
shown  to  have  been  to  their  own  advantage. 

Of  recent  years  in  British  communities  and  in 
the  United  States  and  other  countries,  the  measure 
of  control  exerciseable  by  Labor  in  poUtical  gov- 
ernment, and,  through  political  government,  in 
Industry,  has  vastly  increased.  It  has  been  mate- 
rially enhanced  by  the  estabhshment  of  Depart- 
ments of  Labor  in  Federal  and  State  governments, 
and  by  special  recognition  of  Labor  in  the  Cabinet. 
Labor's  political  influence,  with  its  consequent  in- 
fluence upon  the  government  of  Industry,  has  also 
steadily  increased,  not  alone  through  a  growing 
consciousness  of  its  power  to  give  or  withhold  sup- 
port from  individuals  seeking  public  ofTice,  but  also 
by  the  election  of  increasing  numbers  of  represen- 
tatives from  its  own  ranks  to  public  bodies. 

As  Democracy  develops,  it  is  altogether  probable 
that  the  control  by  Labor  and  the  Community  will 
considerably  exceed  the  control  that  Management 
and  Capital  have  exerted  in  the  past.  History  is 
continually  presenting  paradoxes  expressive  of  the 
underlying  order  which  tends,  in  the  last  analysis, 
to  bring  all  men  and  things  into  conformity  with 
itself.  It  would  almost  seem  that  one  of  these  re- 
markable paradoxes  would  yet  be  exemplified  in 
the  control  of  Industry;  and  that  Management  and 
Capital  would  be  driven  to  extend  to  Labor  and 
the  Community  obvious  and  direct  representation 


38G  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

in  joint-control,  in  order  that  the  mutuahty  of  the 
several  interests  might  be  the  better  understood 
and  preserved.  Any  lesser  step  means  not  only 
continuing  strife  amongst  themselves,  on  the  part 
of  the  several  interests  in  Industry,  but  also  in- 
creasing conflict  between  pohtical  and  industrial 
control,  with  confusion  and  loss  to  all  concerned. 

Whether  pohtical  and  industrial  government  will 
merge  into  one,  or  tend  to  remain  separate  and 
distinct,  the  one  being  supplementary  to  the  other, 
is  a  moot  question.^  The  probabilities  are  that  for 
years  to  come  they  will  exist  side  by  side,  mostly 
distinguishable,  but,  in  much,  so  merged  that  sepa- 
rateness  will  be  possible  in  theory  only.  Not  a  httle 
will  depend  on  the  readiness  of  employers  to  recog- 
nize the  inevitable  trend,  and  on  their  wilhngness  to 
acquiesce  voluntarily  in  the  government  of  private 
enterprises  being  so  changed  individually  and  col- 
lectively as  to  ensure  the  necessary  representation 
of  all  interests.  Much  also  will  depend  on  the  de- 
gree of  self-government  of  which  employees  find 
themselves  capable.  Already  the  tendency  to  en- 
large the  scope  of  political  government  so  as  to 
include  also  industrial  government  has  gone  a  long 
way.  On  the  other  hand,  the  reorganization  of 
private  enterprise  on  the  basis  of  joint-control  by 

'  Vide  Earl  Dean  Howard,  "The  Development  of  Government  in 
Industry"  {Illinois  Law  Review,  March,  1916);  also  miscellaneous 
contributions  by  J .  E.  Williams,  of  Streator,  Illinois,  to  the  Daily 
Independent  Times,  19 17. 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY        387 

all  four  parties  has  had  substantial  though  small 
beginnings.^ 

Were  direct  representation  in  the  joint-control  of 
Industry  to  become  at  all  general  in  private  enter- 
prises, individually  or  collectively,  it  might  be  ex- 
pected that  by  voluntary  agreement  amongst  the 
parties,  standards  in  Industry  which  are  all-im- 
portant to  the  well-being  of  the  several  interests 
would  gradually  be  estabhshed.  Through  com- 
pulsion, exerciseable  under  political  government, 
such  standards,  sooner  or  later,  would  come  to  be 
the  standards  of  Industry  as  a  whole.  Example  is 
a  form  of  leadership  in  a  Democracy,  and  where  it 
is  to  the  interests  of  the  many  to  have  standards 
preserved  or  raised,  there  is  in  a  Democracy  a 
guarantee  of  the  general  adoption  of  desirable 
standards  which  no  other  form  of  government  af- 
fords. In  this  way,  a  national  minimum  of  human 
well-being,  as  nearly  in  accord  with  an  enlightened 
self-interest  as  conditions  will  permit,  is  most  hkely 
to  be  attained,  and  inferior  standards  effectively 
prevented  from  undermining  levels  of  well-being 
already  reached. 

The  War,  by  compelhng,  as  it  has,  recognition  of 
fundamentals,  has  disclosed  the  entire  interde- 
pendence of  the  parties  to  Industry.  It  has  made 
wholly  apparent  that  there  are  four  parties  to  be 

*  Vide  chapter  xu,  "Education  and  Opinion." 


388  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

reckoned  with :  not  one  or  two,  or,  at  most,  three, 
as  is  commonly  assumed;  and  that  each  has  dis- 
tinct functions  and  individual  rights  which,  in  the 
interest  of  all,  require  to  be  safeguarded  and  pro- 
moted in  common.  The  world  has  witnessed  each 
of  the  parties  to  Industry  voluntarily  surrender 
some  measure  of  its  exclusive  and  separatist  atti- 
tude in  response  to  national  necessity.  In  Europe 
and  America  alike,  Labor  has  jettisoned  many 
customary  restrictions  of  output,  and  held  in  abey- 
ance its  resort  to  the  strike.  Capital  has  brought 
forth,  from  nooks  and  crevices,  savings  hitherto 
concealed,  and  transferred  them  readily  into  in- 
dustries essential  to  the  successful  prosecution  of 
the  War.  It  has  gladly  followed  practices  of  thrift 
and  economy,  in  order  to  augment  its  substance 
and  thereby  increase  the  power  of  the  State.  Man- 
agement has  submitted  with  more  or  less  grace  to 
regulation  by  Government,  as  respects  the  stand- 
ards to  be  maintained  in  Industry,  the  distribu- 
tion of  business,  and  even  the  disposition  of  its  own 
abiUties.  Finally,  the  Community,  protecting  itself 
against  exploitation,  has  enacted  laws  against  prof- 
iteering, regulated  the  sale  and  prices  of  many 
commodities  and  services,  and  given  its  sanction  to 
all  sorts  of  measures  bearing  directly  upon  the  well- 
being  of  the  workers  in  Industry. 

Not  less  important  than  this  "getting  together" 
on  the  part  of  Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and 


REPRESENTATION  IN  INDUSTRY         389 

the  Community,  is  the  motive  which  has  prompted 
the  change  in  attitude.  Each  one  has  come  along 
hke  a  partner  who  shares  a  joint  venture  and  is 
wilUng  and  anxious  to  participate  in  what  he  rec- 
ognizes as  a  fonn  of  national  service.  Significant 
beyond  all,  perhaps,  is  the  method  by  which  the 
change  in  attitude  has  in  large  part  been  accom- 
pUshed.  Performance  has  usually  been  preceded 
by  conference,  and  conference,  where  it  has  taken 
place,  has  been  between  representatives  of  the 
parties  concerned.  Representatives  of  Labor  have 
met  with  representatives  of  Capital  and  Manage- 
ment, and  all  three  have  been  brought  into  joint 
conference  under  the  aegis  of  the  Government, 
representing  the  Community.  The  personnel  of 
Commissions  and  Boards,  where  appointed  to  deal 
with  matters  affecting  Industry,  has,  as  a  rule, 
been  composed  of  representatives  of  Labor,  Capi- 
tal, Management,  and  the  Public.  Here,  surely,  is 
the  principle  of  Round  Table  Conference  both  in 
theory  and  practice ! 

Custom  hardens  quickly;  the  usages  of  one  gen- 
eration become  the  laws  of  the  next.  What  has 
been  customary  practice  in  time  of  war  may  fmd 
enduring  expression  in  succeeding  years  of  peace. 

A  new  attitude  has  already  been  assumed  by  the 
several  parties  to  Industry,  out  of  which  some  ac- 
ceptable form  of  joint-control  is  certain  to  develop. 
The  parties  have  recognized  their  distinct  functions 


390  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

and  personalities  as  never  before;  they  have  seen 
themselves  in  their  true  relations  to  one  another, 
and  to  the  vast  interest,  opportunity,  and  service 
they  have  in  common.  The  principle  of  Round 
Table  Conference  has  been  tested,  and  tried  out 
with  success,  in  the  largest  affairs  of  the  nation, 
and  under  the  most  extreme  circumstances.  The 
principle  of  Representation  has  furnished  a  key 
wherewith  to  unlock  the  door  of  every  difficully. 
Leadership  alone  is  now  required  to  give  to  the 
whole  development  its  permanent  setting;  to  take 
Industry,  through  all-round  partnership,  out  of 
the  mire  of  warring  factions,  bhnded  through  self- 
interest  and  hmited  vision,  into  a  consciousness  of 
its  mighty  and  beneficent  mission. 


CHAPTER  XI 

GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY 

In  working  toward  a  wise  evolution  of  Govern- 
ment in  Industry,  the  evolution  of  Government  in 
the  State  cannot  be  studied  with  too  mucji  care. 
We  have  seen  wherein  law  and  order  in  demo- 
cratic communities  had  their  beginnings  under  a 
system  of  government  which  was  highly  central- 
ized and  autocratic.  We  were  able  to  ferret  out, 
from  the  days  of  WiUiam  the  Conqueror  and  the 
early  Henrys,  juridical  devices  of  one  kind  or  an- 
other apphcable  to  present-day  relations  between 
the  parties  to  Industry.  Out  of  the  elementary 
principles  embodied  in  those  remote  pohtical  pre- 
cedents, the  elaborate  systems  of  legal  justice  and 
judicial  procedure  of  our  times  have  been  evolved. 
It  is  to  the  Reign  of  Edward  I  that  we  look  for  the 
origin  of  Parliament. 

To  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester,  belongs 
the  glory  of  having  been  the  first  to  admit  within  the 
pale  of  the  British  pohtical  constitution  the  really 
popular  and  progressive  burgher  class,  which,  with 
the  freeholders  of  the  counties,  constituted  hence- 
forth the  newly  developed  Third  Estate  of  the 
realm.  In  the  summoning  of  De  Montfort's  famous 
Parhament  which  met  in  London  on  the  20th  of 


392  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

January,  1265,  writs  were  issued  to  all  the  sherifTs, 
directing  them  to  return  not  only  two  knights  from 
each  shire,  but  also  two  citizens  from  each  city,  and 
two  burgesses  from  each  borough.  The  innovation 
of  Simon  de  Montfort  in  calling  to  the  central  as- 
sembly elected  representatives  of  the  boroughs, 
completed  the  formation  of  the  National  Parha- 
ment  on  substantially  the  same  basis  as  it  has  ever 
since  retained.  But  its  existence  during  the  next 
thirty  years  was  still  precarious.  The  period  1265 
to  1295  was  one  of  transition;  it  is  only  from  the 
latter  year  that  we  can  date  the  regular  and  com- 
plete estabhshment  of  a  perfect  representation  of 
the  Three  Estates  in  Parhament.^ 

In  the  development  of  Government  in  Industry, 
it  would  appear  that  we  are  to-day  in  a  transition 
stage  closely  resembling  that  of  Government  within 
the  State  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  Here  and  there, 
large-visioned  employers,  lesser  or  greater  De  Mont- 
forts  in  their  way,  are  calhng  to  their  Industrial 
Councils  representatives  of  Labor  and  the  Com- 
munity, as  well  as  of  Capital  and  Management. 
They  are  seeking  to  work  out  a  wise  system  of  joint- 
control.  They  have  conceded  the  principle  of  rep- 
resentation, not  to  privileged  classes  only,  but  to 
all  who  participate  in  production.  In  matters  per- 
taining to  collective  bargaining  and  the  adjustment 
of  disputes,  the  machinery  of  representation  is  now 

,  *  Vide  Taswell-Langmead,  Eng.  Const.  Hisl.,  chap.  vn. 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  393 

quite  generally  employed.  It  is  interesting  to  ob- 
serve that,  in  the  State,  representative  machinery 
was  employed  for  judicial  and  financial  purposes 
before  its  extension  to  the  domain  of  politics.  Once 
ideas  of  election  and  representation  became  famihar 
to  the  nation  in  matters  pertaining  to  Justice  and 
Finance,  it  was  inevitable  that  sooner  or  later 
their  application  should  extend  to  participation  in 
matters  of  Government  as  well.  Is  a  like  sequence 
not  visible  in  Industry  to-day?  On  all  sides  there 
are  evidences  of  the  inevitable  trend. 

How  vast  has  been  the  transformation  in  the 
relative  powers  of  King,  Lords,  and  Commons 
since  the  days  of  Edward  I!  Control  in  political 
government  has  widened  from  absolutism  to  ex- 
ecutive authority,  broad-based  upon  a  people's 
will.  In  progress  toward  Self-government  in  the 
State,  three  phases  of  control  are  clearly  dis- 
tinguishable. The  first  may  be  termed  that  of 
the  Autocratic  Executive;  the  second,  that  of  Rep- 
resentative Government;  and  the  third,  that  of 
Responsible  Self-government.  The  introduction  of 
the  idea  of  Representation  opened  the  way  to  par- 
ticipation in  Government  by  all  classes.  At  the 
outset.  Representation  was  comparatively  mean- 
ingless. It  progressed  steadily  towards  greater 
effectiveness.  Ultimately,  it  succeeded  in  bringing 
about  the  responsibiUty  of  the  Executive  to  the 
people  at  large.  The  evolution  has  been  differently 


394  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

achieved  in  different  countries;  but  in  all  free 
countries,  there  has  gradually  come  about  co-oper- 
ation, in  increasing  harmony  with  the  collective 
will,  among  the  several  factors  comprising  Gov- 
ernment. The  broadening  of  the  basis  of  Repre- 
sentation marks  the  evolution  by  which  the  bounds 
of  political  Liberty  have  gradually  widened. 

What  the  ultimate  development  of  Government 
in  Industry  may  be  is  necessarily  a  matter  of  specu- 
lation. If  its  beginnings  are  a  criterion,  it  would 
appear  that,  as  regards  essentials,  its  evolution  will 
follow  lines  parallel  to  those  which  have  become 
familiar  in  Politics.  Social  Freedom  is  both  pohti- 
cal  and  economic.  In  the  last  analysis,  the  situa- 
tion as  regards  the  exercise  of  Control  in  Industry 
is  on  all  fours  with  the  exercise  of  political  Con- 
trol. Wherever  in  affairs  of  the  State,  one  class  has 
sought  to  maintain  a  monopoly  of  Government, 
there,  sooner  or  later,  conflict  has  been  inevitable. 
It  will  be  the  same  in  Industry  so  long  as  reasons 
which  are  identical  persist,  and  human  nature  does 
not  change.  In  the  struggle  for  a  wider  Freedom, 
mankind  will  not  rest  until  in  Industry,  as  in  the 
State,  Autocratic  Government,  whatever  its  form, 
is  superseded  by  a  form  of  Government  representa- 
tive of  all  the  parties  in  interest,  and,  ultimately, 
by  a  system  the  corner-stone  of  which  is  Respon- 
sible Self-Government. 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  395 

A  system  of  Responsible  Self-Government  in 
Industry  would  be  one  in  which  all  those  who  con- 
tribute aught  in  the  nature  of  effort  toward  pro- 
duction, who  make  aught  of  investment  either  of 
life  or  of  possessions,  would  have  a  voice  in  control- 
ling the  conditions  under  which  their  services  are 
given,  and  to  whom  the  executive  authority,  how- 
ever it  might  be  constituted,  would  be  answerable 
for  the  manner  in  which  executive  functions  are 
discharged.  Whether  this  evolution  of  Government 
will  be  attained  in  Industry  without  the  violent 
revolutions  which  have  marked  its  course  in  Poli- 
tics, will  depend  upon  the  degree  to  which  the  les- 
sons of  History  are  taken  to  heart. 

It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  for  Privilege  to  die 
hard ;  and  Privilege,  where  it  represents  monopoly 
in  industrial  control,  may  find  the  democratizing  of 
Industry  as  difficult  to  concede  as  did  ancient  aris- 
tocracies the  abohtion  of  their  exclusive  rights. 
But  principles  as  fundamental  in  the  one  case  as  in 
the  other  will  be  contended  for,  and  ultimately 
won;  their  slow  but  certain  acquisition  throughout 
the  world  in  the  realm  of  Politics  is  but  paving  the 
way  for  their  more  rapid  attainment  in  the  sphere 
of  Industry.  It  will  be  fortunate  for  Society  if  the 
inevitable  trend  is  recognized,  and,  by  a  process  of 
natural  evolution  in  Industry  which  reveals  appre- 
ciation of  the  possibihties  of  men  to  govern  them- 
selves, the  world  is  spared  the  kind  of  convulsions  in 


396  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Industry  which  have  attended  efTorts  at  democratic 
control  within  the  State. 

Of  all  conceivable  combinations,  the  most  danger- 
ous to  Liberty  is  that  of  Industry  and  the  State,  each 
organized  on  an  autocratic  basis.  The  European 
War  has  shown  the  possible  consequences  of  such  a 
combination,  now  that  Industry"  has  become  a  world 
concern,  and  pohtical  ambitions  have  enlarged  cor- 
respondingly. The  free  nations  were  not  slow  to 
recognize  in  the  world  conflict  a  supreme  struggle 
between  Despotism  and  Democracy.  It  took  some 
months  of  the  War,  however,  to  make  plain  that 
German  despotism  had  been  able  to  perfect  its 
strength  through  a  combination  of  political  and 
industrial  power  rendered  possible  only  through  the 
autocratic  organization  of  both  Industry  and  the 
State. 

Mr.  WiUiam  Roscoe  Thayer  has  shown,  in  "  Ger- 
many vs.  Civilization,"^  with  what  design  and  skill 
this  combination  of  pohtical  and  industrial  autoc- 
racy was  effected  for  purposes  of  world  conquest; 
how  the  Kaiser  arranged  it  so  that  the  Balhns, 
Krupps,  and  scores  of  similar  capitalists  became 
the  much  honored  members  of  the  social  organ- 
ism; how  Plutocracy  married  with  Aristocracy, 
and  the  two  became  a  united  force  in  main- 
taining the  social  and  political  system  on  which 

'  Houghton  Mifllin  Company,  Boston,  1916. 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  397 

their  own  privileged  existence  depended,  and  which 
assigned  the  highest  privileges  to  aristocrats. 

The  combination  of  Aristocracy  and  Plutocracy, 
and  the  support  of  their  privileged  position  by 
Mihtarism,  are  in  no  way  new.  The  combination  is 
one  to  which  nations  tend  constantly  to  revert,  and 
which,  if  Freedom  is  to  be  maintained,  must  be 
checked  at  all  costs. ^  German  Imperiahsm,  as  de- 
hberately  conceived,  was  nothing  but  Mihtarism 
at  the  service  of  the  aristocratic  junker  and  the  plu- 
tocratic industriahst  for  purposes  of  world  conquest. 
To  this  ambition  every  institution  and  ideal  was 
made  subservient.  All  the  human  and  material 
resources  of  the  German  Empire  were  organized  to 
further  this  end.  The  concentration  of  capital,  the 
co-ordination  of  wealth,  the  credit  and  banking 
systems,  the  aids  to  Commerce  and  Industry,  the 
whole  financial,  commercial,  and  industrial  organi- 
zation, were  so  inter-related  and  inter-woven  on 
the  model  of  autocratic  control  as  to  constitute 
one  mighty  instrument  for  purposes  of  industrial 
and  pohtical  conquest.  Foreign  markets  were  to  be 
gained  and  foreign  territory  conquered  by  force  of 
arms.  Additional  resources  and  colonies,  the  one  to 
furnish  fresh  supphes  of  raw  materials  to  her  indus- 
tries; the  other,  new  fields  of  settlement  for  her  pop- 
ulation :  these,  with  an  enlarged  centrahzed  Europe, 

^  Vide  Goldwin  Smith,  Commonwealth  or  Empire.  The  Macmillan 
Co.,  New  York,  1902. 


398  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

were  the  immediate  objectives  of  a  ruthless  ex- 
pansion that  aimed  at  industrial  and  pohtical  dom- 
ination of  the  entire  world.  Even  Education  and 
Morahty  did  not  escape  the  taint.  The  school  was 
made  the  ally  of  the  barracks,  and  Science  was 
most  fostered  where  most  closely  related  to  instru- 
mentalities of  destruction. 

With  the  pohtical  and  industrial  government  of 
Germany  organized  on  a  basis  of  autocratic  control, 
there  spread,  of  necessity,  through  the  Mihtarism 
supporting  it,  the  only  spirit  which  Mihtarism  can 
breed:  arrogance,  at  the  one  extreme;  and  at  the 
other,  subserviency.  Mr.  Thayer  has  shown  how, 
all  unconsciously,  the  entire  nation  took  on  the 
pattern  of  the  Prussian  army:  perfect  organiza- 
tion, perfect  disciphne;  but  accompanied  every- 
where by  a  belief  in  Force  and  the  power  of  Might, 
and  the  subordination  of  the  individual  to  the 
material  ends  of  the  State  and  its  aggrandisement. 
By  a  subtle  sophistry,  the  material  ends  were  held 
up  as  the  spiritual  also. 

The  bearing  of  all  this  upon  government  of  In- 
dustry in  countries  where  autocracy  in  political 
government  has  long  since  been  overthrown,  was 
passionately  expressed  in  an  article  in  Ihc  London 
"Weekly  Times,"  of  February  23,  1917,  by  a  Brit- 
ish ofTicer  who  was  wounded  on  the  Somme.  Por- 
traying with  rare  imaginative  insight  the  meaning 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  399 

of  the  great  world  struggle  in  its  relation  to  modern 
industrialism,  this  soldier  says: 

"We  ought  to  recognize  that  the  real  struggle,  in 
which  this  war  is  only  an  episode,  is  not  merely  be- 
tween our  own  country  and  anything  so  unstable 
and  transitory  as  modern  Germany,  but  between 
permanent  and  irreconcilable  claimants  for  the 
Soul  of  Man,  and  that  what  makes  the  German 
spirit  dangerous  is  not  that  it  is  ahen,  but  that  it 
is  horribly  congenial  to  almost  the  whole  modern 
world.  For  the  spirit  of  German  Imperialism  is  too 
often  the  spirit  of  Enghsh  and  American  industrial- 
ism, with  all  its  cult  of  power  as  an  end  in  itself, 
its  coarse  material  standards,  its  subordination  of 
personality  to  mechanism,  its  worship  of  an  elab- 
orate and  soul-destroying  organization.  And  if  we 
feel  that  the  absolute  claim  of  personality,  the  pres- 
ervation and  development  of  spiritual  freedom  are 
worth  any  sacrifice  in  time  of  war,  we  ought  equally 
to  feel  that  they  are  worth  any  sacrifice  in  time  of 
peace." 

How  profound  the  truth  and  wisdom  of  these 
words!  The  overthrow  of  Prussian  Despotism  is 
only  part  of  the  vast  undertaking  which  the  free 
nations  of  the  world  have  still  before  them  if  Free- 
dom worthy  of  the  name  is  to  be  attained.  Indus- 
trial autocracy  and  pohtical  autocracy  may  go 
hand  in  hand,  but  not  autocracy  in  Industry  and 
democracy  in  Pohtics.  The  latter  combination  is 
as  ill-mated  as  the  former  is  natural.  To  the  na- 
tions that  have  won  pohtical  freedom,  there  re- 


400  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

mains  the  task  of  reorganizing  their  industries  into 
harmony  with  their  governments.  Anything  short 
of  harmony  means  perpetual  conflict.  Institutions 
opposed  in  organization  and  spirit  can  only  work 
against  each  other  till  one  or  the  other  prevails.  To 
democratize  Industry,  so  that  along  with  democ- 
racy in  government  there  may  be  a  true  Industrial 
Democracy,  is  the  task  that  hes  ahead. 

To  achieve  a  wise  evolution  of  Government  in 
Industry  will  require  time.  While  History  points 
the  way  to  Freedom,  her  teachings  not  less  clearly 
reveal  the  wisdom  of  proceeding  slowly,  and  the 
part  which  capacity  and  preparedness  play  in  the 
accomplishment  of  enduring  reforms.  The  surest 
method  is  that  which  proceeds  step  by  step,  avoid- 
ing cataclysmic  changes,  and  neglecting  no  oppor- 
tunity to  unite  all  parties  in  effective  co-operation 
towards  a  common  end. 

The  growth  of  the  English  Constitution  has  been 
concurrent  with  the  growth  of  Parliament.  There 
is  hope  for  the  evolution  of  Government  in  Indus- 
try when  it  is  recalled  that  the  Enghsh  Constitu- 
tion is  the  first  of  all  free  constitutions  in  age  and 
in  adaptability,  and  has  served  more  or  less  as  the 
model  for  all  existing  constitutions.  It  is  well  to 
remember  that  its  evolution  has  been  wrought  out 
"line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept,  here  a  ht- 
tle,  there  a  Httle."  Taswell-Langmead  says:  "In 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  401 

its  practical  combination  of  conservative  instincts 
with  liberal  aspirations,  in  its  power  of  progres- 
sive development  and  self-adaptation  to  the  chang- 
ing pohtical  and  social  wants  of  each  successive 
generation,  have  always  lain  the  pecuhar  excel- 
lence and  at  the  same  time  the  surest  safeguard 
of  our  Constitution." 

The  chaos  which,  within  the  past  decade,  has 
accompanied  the  transitions  of  the  ancient  abso- 
lutisms of  China  and  Russia,  reveals  the  nemesis 
which  sooner  or  later  is  bound  to  overtake  resist- 
ance to  change.  It  evidences  equally  the  tragic 
consequences  of  a  development  beyond  that  for 
which  a  people  is  prepared.  The  new  Repubhcs 
had  their  birth  in  ideas  and  forces  which  had  been 
permeating  the  unnumbered  masses  of  these  un- 
known peoples.  The  pohtical  evolutions  of  Eng- 
land, France,  and  America,  had  been  as  leaven  in 
Chinese  and  Russian  thought.  It  is  in  the  nature 
of  pohtical  ferment  to  work  in  many  directions  at 
once.  The  change  in  these  ancient  monarchies 
came  with  a  surprising  suddenness,  and  a  no  less 
surprising  lack  of  bloodshed.  That  was  because  the 
privileged  circle  surrounding  Autocracy  had  been 
narrowing,  while  the  social  pyramid  had  been 
steadily  widening  at  its  base.  The  overthrow  of 
Autocracy  was  followed  by  reactions  hardly  less 
sudden,  but  full  of  bloodshed.  That  was  because, 
of  all  forms  of  Government,  Self-government  by 


402  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

numbers  of  men  is  the  highest  of  human  achieve- 
ments, and  is  necessarily  in  the  nature  of  a  growth. 
It  is  not  an  inheritance  into  which  a  people  can 
enter  at  will.  Attempted  evolutions  by  means  of 
revolution  have  a  significance,  as  concerns  Govern- 
ment in  Industry,  quite  as  considerable  as  any  they 
have  for  Government  in  the  State. 

A  glance  at  forms  of  Industrial  Government 
which  are  in  the  nature  of  protests  on  the  part  of 
Labor  and  the  Community  against  monopolistic 
control  of  Industry  by  Capital  and  Management 
may  help  to  disclose  the  superior  merits  of  a 
method  of  Industrial  Government  which  seeks  to 
improve  the  existing  order  by  adjustment  of  the 
relations  of  the  several  parties  to  Industry  in  ac- 
cordance with  principles  underlying  a  genuine 
partnership. 

Socialism  is,  first  and  foremost,  a  form  of  In- 
dustrial Government.  But  the  term  Sociahsm,  like 
the  term  Co-operation,  is  so  loosely  used  that,  to 
appreciate  its  significance  in  any  relationship,  it  is 
more  or  less  necessary  to  define  the  sense  in  which 
it  is  being  employed.  As  with  forms  of  Co-opera- 
tion, so  with  forms  of  Socialism,  one  merges  imper- 
ceptibly into  another.  Some  times  emphasis  is  upon 
the  spirit  which  the  SociaUst  movement  is  intended 
to  express;  at  others,  and  with  greater  accuracy, 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  403 

it  is  upon  a  particular  form  of  Industrial  Organiza- 
tion and  Government.  1 

The  social  idea,  not  dissimilar  from  the  co-oper- 
ative idea,  which  Hes  at  the  one  extreme,  in  no  way 
necessarily  conflicts  with  the  organization  of  In- 
dustry on  a  basis  which  retains  the  wages  system, 
and  which  leaves  the  control  of  Industry  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  provide  the  capital.  SociaHsm, 
in  this  sense,  means  httle  else  than  an  attempt  to 
carry  on  Industry  in  its  existing  framework  in  a 
manner  which  will  cherish  and  promote  a  spirit  of 
conscious  good-will,  and  a  regard  for  social  well- 
being  among  the  several  parties  to  production.  It 
differs  from  the  pure  individualism  of  Industry  or- 
ganized on  the  capitalistic  basis,  in  that  Competi- 
tion, as  the  determining  factor  with  respect  to  the 
wealth  produced,  is  eliminated;  and  principles  of 
Reason  and  Justice,  determined  in  advance,  are  sub- 
stituted therefor.  This  is  effected  by  agreement 
under  voluntary  association.  In  this  form,  Social- 
ism is  not  distinguishable  from  Co-operation  on  a 
basis  of  fair  dealing  toward  all  concerned,  and  is 
reminiscent  of  the  fact  that  the  beginnings  of  the 
Socialist  movement  are  traceable,  in  part,  to  co- 
operators  who  styled  themselves  Christian  Social- 
ists. 

Socialism,  as  viewed  at  the  other  extreme,  means 

^  Vide  Aneurin  Williams,  Co- Partnership  and  Profit-Sharing;  also 
O.  D.  Skelton,  Socialism:  A  Critical  Analysis. 


404  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  organization  of  Industry  on  a  basis  the  opposite 
of  that  which  admits  of  private  property,  and  of 
individuals  pursuing,  under  voluntary  association, 
their  own  interests  in  their  own  way.  It  imphes  the 
confiscation  of  all  property  by  the  State,  the  ex- 
propriation of  the  present  owners  of  land  and 
capital,  and  the  organization  of  Industry,  not  by 
voluntary  association  in  any  form,  but  by  the  new 
owners,  namely  the  State  or  Municipahty.  This 
method  of  organization  is  what  is  termed  Collec- 
tivism, or  the  collective  ownership  by  the  State  of 
all  the  instruments  of  production,  and  the  collective 
control  of  Industry.  It  represents  an  excessively 
centrahzed  sort  of  omnipotent,  ever-present  State. 

Between  the  two  extremes  lies  yet  a  third  form  of 
SociaUsm,  which  is  commonly  referred  to  as  Munic- 
ipal or  State  SociaUsm.  It  does  not  go  as  far  as  Col- 
lectivism, which  would  confiscate  private  property 
and  place  Industry  in  its  entirety  under  State  con- 
trol, nor  is  it  as  indifferent  to  the  State's  functions 
as  Christian  Socialism,  the  ends  of  which  would  be 
satisfied  apart  from  any  state  or  municipal  owner- 
ship of  capital,  or  control  by  pubhc  authority,  so 
long  as  the  individual  workers  shared  in  the  owner- 
ship of  capital  and  the  management  of  Industry. 

Municipal  and  State  SociaUsm  would  transfer 
the  title  of  ownership  of  resources  and  the  instru- 
ments of  production  from  private  to  pubhc  control. 
Direction  of  Industry  might  be  delegated  to  some 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  405 

body  appointed  by  the  State,  or  be  carried  on  by 
the  State  as  a  state  enterprise.  In  the  former  case, 
there  would  be  pubhc  ownership  only;  in  the  latter, 
public  ownership  and  operation  as  well.  The  con- 
trol by  public  authority  would  permit,  in  each  case, 
of  the  division  of  the  product  of  Industry  on  prin- 
ciples which  the  majority  have  decided  to  be  just 
and  reasonable;  but  the  means  whereby  this  would 
be  effected  would  be  compulsory  and  not  volun- 
tary. 

Under  State  or  Municipal  Sociahsm,  it  is  gen- 
erally imphed  that  Government  would  own  and 
control  only  such  branches  of  Industry  as  seem  to 
afford  special  opportunities  or  reasons  for  Gov- 
ernment Ownership  and  Control.  Such,  for  ex- 
ample, are  industries  in  the  nature  of  monopo- 
hes,  either  natural,  or  created  by  the  combina- 
tion of  businesses :  railways,  telegraphs,  telephones, 
and  the  transmission  of  power,  light,  and  heat. 
These  are  subject  to  franchise,  and  from  them  the 
element  of  competition  tends  to  become  elimi- 
nated. The  War  has  demonstrated  how  suddenly 
monopolies  or  quasi-monopohes  may  be  created  in 
all  kinds  of  commodities  and  services,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, food,  fuel,  transportation,  and  the  Uke.  The 
need  for  pubhc  control  in  many  such  cases  has 
helped  to  popularize  and  extend  the  idea  of  State 
Sociahsm  as  a  kind  of  protection  to  the  common 
weal.  Municipal  and  State  Sociahsm  differ  also 


406  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

from  Collectivism  in  contemplating  the  alteration, 
not  the  aboUtion,  of  the  wages  system.  They  are 
distinguishable  from  Individualism,  not  only  in 
ownership  and  direction  of  Industry  by  Govern- 
ment, but  also  in  the  idea  that  legislation  should 
secure  a  national  minimum  of  well-being  by  insur- 
ance, minimum  wage  laws,  and  other  means. 

Of  recent  years,  a  new  movement  known  as 
Syndicalism,  which  had  its  origin  in  France,  has 
spread  to  different  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  repre- 
sented in  America  and  Austraha  by  an  organization 
which  styles  itself  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World.  Its  aims  are  regarded  by  some  as  SocialistiCy 
in  that  it  seeks  a  social  control  of  Industry;  but  be- 
cause of  its  methods,  which  are  revolutionary,  and 
its  attitude  to  pohtical  Government,  which  is  one 
of  indifference,  the  movement  is  more  accurately 
described  as  Anarchistic.  It  advocates  the  acquisi- 
tion, by  the  workers  of  an  industry  or  trade,  of  the 
entire  capital  needed  and  used;  and  the  complete 
administration  by  them  of  the  industry  or  trade, 
possession  and  control  to  be  obtained  through  the 
instrument  ah  ty  of  the  strike,  the  use  of  force,  or 
any  other  available  means.  It  does  not,  as  Social- 
ism does,  look  to  Government,  which  is  representa- 
tive of  Organized  Society,  to  obtain  ownersliip  and 
control  of  the  instruments  of  production,  and  to 
administer  Industry;  it  looks  to  the  workers,  apart 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  407 

altogether  from  Government,  and  regardless  wholly 
of  private  rights  and  interests. 

Whilst  the  aim  of  Syndicahsm,  in  a  sense,  is  an 
extension,  to  Industry  or  Trade  as  a  whole,  of  the 
principle  of  the  self-governing  workshops,  which 
represented  the  ideal  of  the  early  Christian  Social- 
ists, its  methods  represent  ideals  the  opposite  of 
those  which  the  Christian  Socialists  cherished.  In- 
stead of  the  gradual  peaceful  acquisition  of  Indus- 
try by  Labor  through  the  spread  of  education  and 
the  growth  of  intelligence,  prompting  thrift  and 
developing  capacity  on  the  part  of  the  workers. 
Syndicalism  makes  its  appeal  to  the  ignorance  and 
prejudice  of  the  masses.  It  proceeds  upon  the 
theory  that  if  acquisition  of  territory  and  property 
is  defensible  in  the  case  of  nations  through  the  in- 
strumentahty  of  war,  the  acquisition  of  property 
by  force  in  a  trade  or  business  is  equally  defensible 
in  the  case  of  individuals  to  the  extent  of  their 
power  or  might.  The  reasoning  of  the  Syndicahsts, 
generally  apphed,  would  reduce  society  to  a  state 
of  Anarchy,  which  is  the  absence  of  all  law;  it 
would  substitute  Might  on  the  part  of  the  workers 
as  the  controlling  element  in  Industry. 

Though  the  terms  are  sometimes  used  inter- 
changeably. Anarchy  and  Socialism  represent  the- 
ories of  Government  and  of  the  State  the  direct 
antithesis  of  each  other.  In  their  extreme  forms, 
the  one  recognizes  no  State;  the  other,  all  State. 


408  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

In  abstract  theory,  both  Anarchy  and  SociaUsm 
are  defended  on  the  assumption  that  Labor  creates 
all  wealth,  and  therefore  that  all  wealth  belongs 
to  Labor.  Moreover,  the  method  sometimes  sug- 
gested of  effecting  a  regime  of  Socialism  is  that  of 
forcible  expropriation  by  the  State,  without  com- 
pensation to  owners,  of  all  private  property,  which 
is  the  method  of  Anarchy.  Seeming  identity  of 
abstract  theory  and  method  has  given  rise  to  a 
confusion  of  purpose  and  aim  in  forms  of  social 
and  industrial  organization  which  are  diametrically 
opposed.  In  discussions  upon  Socialism,  irrespec- 
tive of  the  particular  form  of  Sociahsm  to  which 
reference  may  be  made,  it  is  well  that  important 
distinctions  should  be  kept  in  mind. 

The  serviceableness  of  every  form  of  Socialism 
as  a  solution  of  the  problems  of  Industry,  and,  in- 
deed, the  value  of  any  form  of  Industrial  Organiza- 
tion and  Government,  is  to  be  estimated  finally  by 
the  fears  it  tends  to  eliminate  and  the  degree  of 
faith  it  helps  to  inspire  between  the  several  parties 
to  Industry.  Toward  whatever  begets  the  social 
spirit,  wliich  those  who  advocate  SociaUsm  be- 
lieve it  will  evoke,  there  can  be  but  one  attitude.  A 
community  interest,  where  it  is  real,  and  widely 
diffused,  must  prove  a  stimulus  to  all  the  parties  to 
Industry.  Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and  the 
Community  can  have  no  finer  incentive  than  that 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  409 

of  working  together  toward  the  one  end,  the  well- 
being  of  the  Community.  All  the  parties  to  pro- 
duction have  everything  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose 
from  the  larger  productivity  which  such  a  spirit  en- 
sures. The  acceptance  accorded  sociahstic  thought 
and  teaching  is  mainly  attributable  to  a  belief  in 
the  power  of  Sociahsm  to  evoke  such  a  community 
interest  and  spirit. 

As  embodied  in  concrete  proposals  for  indus- 
trial reorganization,  it  is  at  least  an  open  question 
whether  Sociahsm  has  justified,  or  ever  will  justify, 
the  hopes  and  expectations  of  its  advocates.  War 
has  demonstrated  that  the  perils  and  necessities  of 
war  may  help  to  beget  a  social  consciousness,  and 
lead  to  changes  in  social  organization  consonant 
with  sociahstic  ideals.  Whether,  without  a  change 
of  heart,  such  as  the  world  has  not  yet  undergone, 
influences  other  than  those  of  war  are  capable  of 
maintaining  a  hke  conception  of  social  obligation, 
has  not  been  proven.  War,  by  compelhng  infinite 
recourse  to  expedients  to  keep  society  up  to  its 
utmost  endeavor,  provides  the  stimulus  necessary 
for  inventing  means  to  this  end.  Apart  from  Chris- 
tian motive,  which  as  yet  is  unhappily  far  from 
being  the  main  incentive  in  Industry,  is  there 
anything  except  extreme  necessity  which  may  be 
counted  upon  to  do  this?  Extreme  necessity,  more- 
over, is  the  very  thing  Socialism  aims  at  bringing 
to  an  end.  The  mistake  in  drawing  deductions  from 


410  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

what  takes  place  in  time  of  war  is  that  war  is  a 
wholly  abnormal  condition,  the  full  cost  of  which 
cannot  be  known  till  long  after  it  is  all  over,  and 
not  even  then.  Sociahsm,  to  be  of  value,  must  be 
an  enduring  system.  As  such  alone  its  merits  are 
to  be  estimated. 

Since  Labor  constitutes  so  important  a  part  of 
the  Community,  it  might  seem  that  the  Socialist 
State  would  make  a  strong  appeal  to  Labor.  In  so 
far  as  Labor  may  hope  for  improvement  of  its 
condition,  it  would  appear  that  opportunity  might 
be  found  under  a  form  of  organization  in  which  the 
Conmiunity,  in  the  stead  of  private  individuals 
or  corporations,  is  the  owner  of  the  instruments  of 
production  and  the  controller  of  Industry.  Con- 
crete proposals  are  no  sooner  thought  of,  however, 
than  the  difficulties  to  which  they  give  rise  become 
apparent.  A  series  of  disquieting  questions  at  once 
suggest  themselves.  What  is  the  State  or  the  Com- 
munity apart  from  the  human  beings  who  compose 
it?  Is  it  to  be  expected  that  a  change  in  external 
methods  of  organization  will  alter  the  inner  work- 
ings of  human  nature?  Are  individuals,  as  pohti- 
cians,  Ukely  to  be  better  employers  of  Labor  than 
individuals  whose  self-interest  prompts  them  to 
promote  Labor's  efficiency?  Since  all  cannot  per- 
form the  function  of  Management,  and  since  some 
such  function  must  continue  even  in  the  Sociahst 
State,  who  is  to  do  the  directing,  and  who  is  to 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  411 

do  as  he  is  told?  How  are  the  directing  and  the 
working  forces  to  be  selected ;  and  their  respective 
rewards  to  be  determined?  If  differences  of  capac- 
ity are  to  be  recognized,  who  is  to  determine  rela- 
tive merits;  and  if  differences  of  capacity  are  to  be 
ignored,  whither  will  the  practice  lead?  How,  on  an 
elective  basis,  are  some  to  control  and  direct,  and 
others  to  work  under  direction  and  control,  and 
Industry  hold  its  own  in  the  arena  of  world  compe- 
tition? Is  any  basis  of  choice  other  than  the  elec- 
tive feasible;  or,  indeed,  compatible  with  socialistic 
ideals? 

Beset  by  such  confusion  and  alarm,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  Labor  has  seen  httle  to  hope  for  from 
a  change  in  the  social  order  of  the  kind  Collectiv- 
ism necessarily  involves.  Human  nature  senses  the 
limitations  of  such  a  system.  Psychologists  are 
agreed  that  of  all  instincts,  that  of  ownership  is  one 
of  the  most  deeply  rooted,  and  one  of  the  least 
likely  ever  to  be  eradicated.  Labor  has  long  since 
recognized  that  the  Sociahst  State  is  based  too 
largely  on  a  conception  of  human  nature  which 
leaves  human  imperfections  out  of  account.  It 
sees  quite  plainly  that  advocates  of  SociaUsm  in 
its  extreme  forms  mistake  the  end  for  the  begin- 
ning; that  they  start  out  with  the  perfect  individ- 
ual who  is  to  transform  an  imperfect  social  order, 
not  with  the  imperfect  individual  whom  the  new 
social  order  is  intended  to  transform. 


412  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Nor  would  capital  be  less  necessary  to  Industry 
under  Collectivism  than  it  is  with  Industry  or- 
ganized, as  for  the  most  part  at  present  it  is,  on  a 
basis  of  pure  individuahsm.  If  the  SociaUst  State 
begets  fears  with  respect  to  Labor's  incentive  in 
the  matter  of  effort,  what  is  to  be  said  of  the  in- 
centive to  thrift  and  saving  necessary  to  the  ac- 
cumulation of  capital  and  investment?  Capital  can- 
not be  called  into  being  by  order  of  Government, 
however  powerful  Government  may  be.  Capital 
may  be  expropriated  through  taxation  or  by  other 
means,  but  such  a  course  is  a  mere  transfer  of  own- 
ership, not  the  creation  of  new  values.  Taxation, 
to  be  long  continued,  requires  accumulations  begot- 
ten of  strong  inducements  to  save.  Up  to  a  certain 
point,  the  Collective  Owner,  in  the  person  of  the 
State,  might  be  expected  to  conserve  and  save.  It 
would  not  be  long,  however,  before  what  was  seen 
to  be  everybody's  business  would  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  nobody's  business,  and  a  serious  blow 
dealt  to  individual  incentive. 

Of  Management  under  a  Collectivist  regime,  it 
is  hardly  necessary  to  speak.  Management  might 
remain  readily  discoverable,  though  this  is  highly 
improbable.  It  might  even  prefer  pubhc  recogni- 
tion to  personal  gain,  and  wilhngly  accept  emolu- 
ment chiefly  in  the  form  of  opportunity  of  public 
service.  The  difficulties  of  Management  would 
He  in  the  successful  discharge  of  the  functions  of 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  413 

Management.  Uncertainty  as  respects  both  Labor 
and  Capital  is  not  calculated  to  lighten  the  tasks  of 
Management  and  to  improve  productivity.  More- 
over, in  initiative,  in  furthering  invention,  in  intro- 
ducing new  processes,  and  in  taking  the  thousand 
and  one  risks  upon  which  industrial  development  is 
known  to  depend,  the  Sociahst  State  would  be  apt 
to  go  either  too  far  or  not  far  enough.  It  would  go 
too  far  if  in  any  particular  it  accorded  preference 
to  individuals.  It  would  not  go  far  enough  unless 
every  individual  with  an  idea  had  his  chance. 

Apart  altogether  from  the  uniform,  conventional 
mould  into  which  a  regime  of  Collectivism  would 
tend  to  force  all  men  and  things,  the  fears  to  which 
the  Sociahst  State  gives  rise  are  clearly  sufficient  to 
destroy  the  faith  which  any  considerable  portion  of 
mankind  is  ever  hkely  to  have  in  Industry  organ- 
ized on  such  a  basis.  The  War  has  added  to  existing 
fears  by  demonstrating  in  the  Sociahst  State  bane- 
ful possibihties  hitherto  unreahzed. 

The  highly  centrahzed  control  exercised  by  Gov- 
ernment in  Germany,  and  beheved  by  the  German 
people  to  have  had  its  inspiration  in  a  desire  for 
their  social  well-being,  has  been  revealed  as  the 
sine  qua  non  of  the  mihtarist  state:  all-serviceable, 
it  is  true,  in  prosecuting  war  against  other  nations, 
but  all-dominating,  as  well,  over  the  lives  and  des- 
tinies of  the  proletariat.  Even  the  measure  of  ex- 
tension of  State  control  which  the  War  has  induced 


414  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

has  occasioned  the  alhed  nations  to  question  the 
restrictions  and  obUgations  it  has  imposed,  and  to 
view,  from  an  opposite  angle,  the  possibihties  of 
unhmited  control  by  the  State;  or,  in  other  words, 
unhmited  control  by  the  Government  of  the  day. 

It  may  be  said  of  Sociahsm  as  practically  apphed 
in  the  modified  forms  known  as  Municipal  and 
State  Sociahsm,  that  the  absence  of  competition 
makes  it  difTicult  to  estimate  whether  industrial 
processes  so  conducted  are  as  efficient  as  they 
should  be,  or  whether  the  output  is  all  that  it  other- 
wise might  be.  Deficiencies  in  these  particulars  are 
offset  in  the  minds  of  the  Community  by  the  feeling 
of  general  satisfaction  which  comes  from  all  sharing 
more  or  less  ahke,  and  from  the  thought,  congenial 
to  human  nature,  that  some  individuals  are  not,  as 
is  often  supposed,  reaping  vast  personal  gains  at 
the  expense  of  their  fellows. 

Labor,  as  a  rule,  is  readily  available  for  munici- 
pal and  state  enterprises  in  the  nature  of  public 
utilities  and  natural  monopohes.  Public  bodies 
are  in  a  position  more  or  less  to  disregard  consider- 
ations of  economy  of  which  private  concerns  neces- 
sarily take  account.  Especially  where  competi- 
tion is  eliminated,  is  it  possible  to  fix  standards  of 
wages  and  working  conditions  which  satisfy  Labor; 
whilst  the  knowledge  that  the  employer  is  the  pub- 
he,  not  a  private  individual,  or  the  sole  employer 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  415 

as  under  Collectivism,  begets  in  Labor  a  sense  of 
security  of  tenure  and  just  treatment  which  some- 
times is  wanting  under  conditions  of  competitive 
employment. 

For  enterprises  of  this  class,  capital,  for  the  most 
part,  is  also  readily  obtainable.  If  it  cannot  be  se- 
cured by  loan,  it  can  be  raised  by  taxation,  which 
is  possible  so  long  as  the  different  undertakings 
financed  by  public  bodies  are  not  too  numerous, 
and  are  confined  to  those  specially  adapted  to 
Pubhc  Ownership.  Management,  too,  is  usually 
available,  since  the  office  it  enjoys  is  a  quasi-pub- 
hc  one,  carrying  with  it  certainty  of  reward  and 
tenure,  as  well  as  perquisites,  and  a  degree  of 
personal  consideration  and  recognition.  Manage- 
ment, moreover,  in  the  case  of  pubhc  utilities,  is 
not  so  much  discoverable,  as  already  known  and 
proven. 

Industries  publicly  owned  are  most  frequently 
acquired  by  Municipahties  or  the  State  after  they 
have  reached  a  high  order  of  efficiency  under 
private  management.  Where  publicly  operated, 
they  have  very  often  the  helpful  example  and 
stimulating  rivalry  of  privately  conducted  con- 
cerns. Altogether,  therefore,  favorable  conditions 
may  well  make  probable  an  enduring  measure  of 
success  to  certain  kinds  of  municipal  and  state 
enterprise.  It  is,  however,  a  success  essentially 
conditioned  upon  favoring  circumstances. 


416  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

The  protest  of  a  militant  Trade-Unionism  against 
the  exclusive  control  of  Industry  by  Capital  and 
Management  has  found  expression  in  a  desire  for 
control  quite  as  exclusive  on  the  part  of  Labor, 
in  what  the  promoters  of  the  movement  term  a 
system  of  National  Guilds.  It  is  described  as  "a 
system  of  industrial  democracy  in  which  the  work- 
ers will  control  Industry  in  conjunction  with  a 
democratized  State."  ^  "The  workers  themselves 
supplant  capitahsm  in  the  control  of  production." 
Labor,  instead  of  organizing  itself  sectionally 
within  particular  industries,  is  urged  to  have  regard 
only  for  Industrial  Unionism,  and  to  unite  in  one 
great  society  all  the  workers  in  each  industry;  that 
is  to  say,  to  organize  in  one  union  the  workers 
in  all  the  branches  of  a  particular  industry.  The 
ideal  of  National  Guilds  is  self-governing  associa- 
tions of  workers  arising  out  of  the  Trades  Unions 
and  controlling  Industry  in  conjunction  with  a 
democratized  State.  Industrial  unionism  and  con- 
trol are  to  go  together,  each  giving  momentum  to 
the  other.  Thus  organized,  the  workers  are  to  seek 
control  of  the  industry,  not  by  the  State,  as  under 
Socialism,  but  by  the  Union  with  the  aid  of  the 
State.  As  the  representative  of  the  consumers,  the 
State  is  to  be  brought  into  sympathetic  aUiance  in 
effecting  the  complete  overthrow  of  Capitalism, 
thereby  estabhshing  "  a  system  by  which  the  control 

*  G.  D.  H.  Cole,  Self-Government  in  Industry,  p.  4-  London,  1918. 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  417 

of  Industry  might  be  shared  between  the  organiza- 
tion of  producers  and  consumers,  so  as  to  safe- 
guard the  interests  of  the  community  of  consumers, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  give  the  workers  freedom 
to  organize  production  for  themselves."  National 
Guildsmen  maintain  that  only  in  this  way  can 
Labor  come  into  its  own,  and  be  freed  from  the 
"tyranny"  of  Capital  which  exists  under  Indus- 
try as  at  present  conducted  and  from  the  bureau- 
cratic control  which  becomes  a  substitute  for  cap- 
itahstic  domination,  where  Industry  is  controlled 
by  the  State  and  Capitalism  in  any  form  is  per- 
mitted to  flourish. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  National 
Guild  movement  places  itself  in  opposition  to  So- 
cialism, though  it  recognizes  the  State,  representing 
the  Consumers,  as  a  necessary  partner,  along  with 
Labor,  in  Industry.  Like  Sociahsm,  it  would  rule 
out  Capital's  place  for  consideration  in  joint-con- 
trol, but,  as  the  predominant  factor  in  control,  it 
would  substitute  Industrial  Unions  for  the  State. 
In  protesting  against  an  actual  monopoly  of  con- 
trol by  Capital  under  Capitalism,  and  a  possible 
monopoly  of  control  by  the  State  under  Socialism, 
it  would  establish  a  monopoly  of  control  by  Labor 
under  Unionism.  This  is  a  natural  reaction.  It  rep- 
resents the  extreme  of  the  protest  by  a  mihtant  La- 
bor Unionism  against  the  monopoly  of  control  by 
Capital,  just  as  Collectivism  represents  the  extreme 


418  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY. 

of  the  protest  by  an  aggressive  State  Socialism 
against  the  monopoly  of  capitahstic  control. 

Industrial  Unionism  and  Collectivism  are  alike 
in  that  each  would  oust  Gapitahsm  by  setting  up  a 
monopoly  of  its  own.  Of  the  two,  National  Guilds 
under  Industrial  Unionism  would  probably  go  far- 
ther in  the  direction  of  estabhshing  a  complete  mo- 
nopoly of  control  than  would  the  State  under  So- 
ciahsm.  Industrial  Unionism  mistrusts  the  State 
owing  to  the  possible  influence  of  Capital.  Social- 
ists, whilst  giving  the  State  —  in  other  words 
the  Community  —  preponderating  control,  are  in- 
chned  to  pin  their  faith  to  Labor,  and  to  look  to 
Labor,  under  a  Sociahst  regime,  as  being  well-nigh 
identical  with  the  State. 

It  is  clear  that  the  National  Guild  movement 
rules  out  altogether  the  idea  of  partnership.  There 
can,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  no  relationship  be- 
tween partnership  and  monopoly.  The  one  stands 
for  joint-control,  the  other  for  single  control.  Sin- 
gle control,  whether  it  be  by  Capital,  Management, 
the  State,  or  Labor,  sooner  or  later  means  auto- 
cratic control.  Whether  Labor  as  the  Autocrat 
would  be  better  for  Industry,  considered  either  as  a 
revenue-producing  process  or  as  an  instrument  of 
social  well-being,  than  Capital,  Management,  or 
the  Community,  is  a  question  that  may  well  be  left 
to  Labor  itself.  Perhaps  nothing  would  better  serve 
to  reveal  fundamental  limitations  than  a  brief  ex- 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  419 

perience  of  this  kind  of  monopoly.  It  would  soon 
be  discovered  that  Autocracy  in  any  form  is  a  mis- 
take; and  that  the  protests  separately  made  by  the 
other  parties  to  Industry  against  domination  on 
the  part  of  Capital,  or  of  the  State,  or  of  Labor,  are 
evidence  of  an  abiding  confhct  with  monopoly  irre- 
spective of  the  party  by  which  it  is  exercised. 

National  Guildsmen  say:  "The  alternative  to 
Trade  Union  control  of  Industry  is  control  by 
Capitalism,  either  directly  or  through  its  servant, 
the  Capitahst  State."  Is  this,  in  fact,  the  only  pos- 
sible alternative?  Is  there  not  the  alternative  of 
joint-control  by  all  the  parties  to  Industry?  In- 
deed, the  only  rational  and  enduring  solution  of  the 
problem  of  industrial  government  would  appear  to 
be  a  joint-control  by  all,  where  parties  possess  func- 
tions which  are  separate  and  distinct,  but  which  at 
the  same  time  are  essential  and  interdependent. 

Whilst  it  is  unhkely  that  SociaUsm  in  the  form  of 
the  omnipotent  and  ever-present  State,  or  Indus- 
trial Unionism  controlhng  Industry  in  conjunction 
with  a  democratized  State,  will  ever  permanently 
succeed  the  present  order,  it  is  altogether  probable 
that  Collectivist  ideals,  and  in  particular  what  they 
represent  of  the  community  idea  and  improvement 
in  the  status  of  Labor,  will  vastly  expand  their  in- 
fluence in  the  years  to  come.  This  is  but  continuing 
a  natural  evolution  wliich  experience  has  wholly 


420  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

justified.  A  belief  in  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  a 
measure  of  State  interference  succeeded  the  older 
conception  of  laissez  faire,  which  looked  to  unre- 
stricted competition  as  the  ideal  in  matters  of 
industrial  organization.  Regulation,  especially  as 
respects  a  minimum  of  social  well-being,  is  more 
and  more  the  accepted  order  of  to-day. 

What  would  appear  as  most  hkely  to  happen  is 
that  managers,  investors,  and  workers  alike  will  be 
obhged  to  yield  an  increasing  measure  of  interest 
and  control  to  the  Community.  The  function  of 
Government  in  Industry  will  cease  to  be  monopo- 
hzed  by  any  one  or  two  or  three  of  the  parties,  and 
will  be  shared  by  all,  in  ever-increasing  measure 
of  equahty.  Whilst  Industry  may  continue  chiefly 
a  matter  of  individual  enterprise,  kindred  enter- 
prises will  more  and  more  coalesce  and  expand. 
The  status  of  the  wage-earner  in  the  control  of 
Industry  will  gradually  rise  toward  equahty  with 
that  of  the  investor.  Labor's  voice  will  become 
correspondingly  important  and  authoritative. 

Any  development  which  tends  to  equahze  Con- 
trol between  all  the  parties  is  promoting  Partner- 
ship in  Industry.  Simultaneously,  it  is  helping  to 
evolve  genuine  Industrial  Democracy.  If  one  stops 
to  analyze  what  Control  signifies,  it  will  be  seen 
that,  in  a  very  real  sense,  all  Control  is  in  the  nature 
of  Ownership.  To  own  a  thing  is  to  have  the  right 
to  control  it.    Ownership  apart  from  control  is  a 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  421 

negative  kind  of  possession ;  control  with  or  without 
ownership  is  a  positive  one.  Pubhc  Ownership  and 
Pubhc  Employment  do  not  of  themselves  bring 
about  any  unity  of  the  interests  of  the  worker  with 
those  of  the  public  body  which  employs  him.  Some 
direct  interest  in  the  results,  and  some  special  rep- 
resentation of  the  workers  actually  employed  are 
essential,  even  in  a  pubhc  enterprise,  if  individual 
effort  and  individual  freedom  are  to  be  maintained. 

The  ideal  of  Joint-Control  of  Industry,  as  re- 
spects both  individual  enterprises  and  Industry 
as  a  whole,  would  doubtless  be  control  by  Labor, 
Capital,  Management,  and  the  Community,  equally 
represented  on  what  would  be  the  equivalent  of  in- 
dustrial directorates,  and  enjoying  an  equal  voice 
in  round  table  conference.  By  such  directorates, 
pohcies  would  be  framed  and  agreements  reached 
as  the  result  of  discussions  in  \^hich  thought  of  the 
common  interests  of  the  several  partners  in  Indus- 
try would  be  uppermost,  just  as,  in  a  Cabinet, 
expression  is  given  to  the  common  interests  of  a 
nation. 

The  form  of  industrial  organization,  and  even 
the  immediate  ownership  of  the  instruments  of 
production,  are  wholly  secondary  to  Control.  If  the 
contributing  factors  to  production.  Labor,  Capital, 
Management,  and  the  Community,  were  to  con- 
stitute a  Directorate  of  Partners,  what  any  one  or 
all  actually  owned  of  the  instruments  of  production 


422  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

would  be  unimportant  as  compared  with  the  degree 
of  control  which  each  exercised  over  the  workings 
of  Industry  and  its  results. 

Few  men  have  done  more  to  preserve  popular 
liberties  and  to  advance  constitutional  government 
than  the  illustrious  statesman  John  Pym.  He  was 
returned  in  1614  to  the  House  of  Commons  at 
Westminster  by  men  who  represented  the  deter- 
mined spirit  of  the  nation  against  the  unscrupulous 
and  arbitrary  behavior  of  James  I.  He  was  im- 
prisoned by  James  for  joining  with  other  members 
in  protecting  the  privileges  of  the  House  against 
the  King's  disregard  of  Parliament.  He  eloquently 
supported  the  Petition  of  Right  in  protest  against 
the  concession  of  sovereign  power  to  Charles  II.  In 
the  Long  Parliament  he  denounced  unsparingly  the 
arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  Government.  It  was 
he  who  characterized  the  Earl  of  Stafford  as  "the 
greatest  enemy  to  the  liberties  of  his  country,  and 
the  greatest  promoter  of  tyranny  that  any  age  had 
produced,"  and  who,  when  the  Commons  decided 
on  Stafford's  impeachment,  carried  the  message 
to  the  bar  of  the  Lords.  1 1  was  he  also  who  exposed 
in  ParUament  the  design  of  Charles  to  bring  up  the 
army  to  overawe  the  deliberations  of  the  Commons. 
He  dccUned  to  lessen  his  independence  by  accept- 
ing, at  the  instance  of  the  Crown,  the  Chancellor- 
ship of  the  Exchequer.  Because  of  this  refusal,  he 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  '423 

was  named  by  royal  message  one  of  the  five  mem- 
bers in  an  impeachment  which  helped  to  provoke 
the  Civil  War.  Of  this  impeachment  Macaulay  has 
said:  "It  is  difficult  to  fmd  in  the  whole  history  of 
England  such  an  instance  of  tyranny,  perfidy,  and 
folly." 

Speaking  of  the  principles  which  underhe  all  free 
government,  Pym  said:  "That  form  of  govern- 
ment is  best  which  doth  actuate  and  dispose  every 
part  and  member  of  the  State  to  the  common 
good." 

No  more  splendid  maxim  of  Government  has 
ever  been  devised.  Were  Pym's  words  so  trans- 
posed as  to  be  made  apphcable  to  Industry,  the 
maxim  would  read:  That  form  of  Government  in 
Industry  is  best  which  doth  actuate  and  dispose  every 
part  and  member  to  the  common  good. 

Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Commu- 
nity :  these  are  the  parts  and  members  of  Indus- 
try. They  are  the  partners  in  Industry,  partners  in 
individual  enterprises,  partners  in  Industry  as  a 
whole.  Self-government  in  Industry  worked  out 
on  some  basis  of  adequate  representation  of  all  the 
partners  should  prove  as  nearly  perfect  as  any 
form  of  Industrial  Government  it  is  possible  to 
conceive. 

There  is  an  important  distinction  between  a  Di- 
rectorate and  a  Management,  and  it  is  in  the  form 


424  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

of  a  Directorate,  not  as  a  Management,  that  a 
more  equitable  distribution  of  the  control  of  Indus- 
try among  all  its  contributing  factors  is  to  be  de- 
sired. The  function  of  a  Directorate  is  to  create 
and  lay  down  pohcies,  and  to  find  ways  and  means 
of  providing  what  is  necessary  to  carry  them  out. 
The  function  of  Management  is  to  see  that  the 
policies  determined  upon  are  executed  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spirit  by  which  they  are  actuated. 
Once  the  right  relationship  of  a  Directorate  to  a 
Management  is  grasped,  the  possibihties  of  Indus- 
trial Directorates  become  more  apparent,  and  the 
whole  problem  of  Government  in  Industry  is  re- 
lieved of  many  of  its  embarrassing  features. 

The  method  of  conducting  poUtical  Government 
in  free  communities  helps  to  make  clear  the  essen- 
tial difference  between  the  functions  of  a  Directo- 
rate and  a  Management.  Government  in  the  State 
is  divided  between  bodies  which  make  the  laws, 
and  bodies  which  execute  them.  In  other  words, 
there  are  two  main  functions  in  Government:  the 
one  legislative,  the  other  executive.  In  the  British 
Isles,  and  throughout  the  self-governing  Dominions 
of  the  British  Commonwealth,  the  central  law- 
making body  is  styled  Parhament;  in  America  it  is 
spoken  of  as  Congress.  Parhament  and  Congress 
through  legislation  define  what  may  or  may  not  be 
done  by  men  in  their  relations  as  citizens.  They  do 
not  attempt,  however,  to  carry  out  their  own  poli- 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  425 

cies,  or  to  execute  the  laws  they  enact.  The  work  of 
Executive  AdininisLration  is  left  to  salaried  officers, 
composed,  in  the  countries  mentioned,  of  the  Head 
of  the  Nation  and  his  Cabinet,  the  Civil  Serv- 
ice, and  the  Judiciary.  Within  the  limits  prescribed 
by  law,  the  authority  of  the  Executive  in  all  its 
branches  is  supreme.  Without  permitting  wide  dis- 
cretionary authority  to  the  individuals  chosen  to 
administer  and  execute  the  laws,  and  without  re- 
serving to  them  ample  power  to  give,  and  to  com- 
pel obedience  to  orders,  it  would  be  impossible  for 
the  business  of  Government  in  the  State  to  be 
carried  on. 

Because  Management  exercises  what  is  essen- 
tially an  executive  function,  it  does  not  follow  that 
Management  may  not  also  be  a  part,  and,  for  that 
matter,  the  most  important  part,  of  the  Direc- 
torate which  shapes  pohcy.  Though  differing  in 
many  particulars,  both  the  British  and  the  Ameri- 
can constitutions  afford  conspicuous  examples  of 
the  exercise  of  this  dual  function  by  the  Executive. 
Under  the  workings  of  both,  the  National  Execu- 
tive sees  to  the  effective  enforcement  of  policy  and 
laws.  Under  both,  however,  the  Executive,  in  the 
exercise  of  its  control,  is  itself  controlled  by  the  will 
of  the  people  as  a  whole. 

If  Government  in  Industry  were  to  undergo  a 
transition  similar  to  that  effected  in  the  evolution 
of  Government  in  the  State,  Management  need  not 


426  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

be  robbed  of  any  of  its  necessary  measure  of  con- 
trol. Its  function  in  Industry  would  continue  to 
correspond  with  that  of  the  Executive  in  the  State. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  State,  the  distinction  in  In- 
dustry between  legislative  and  executive  powers 
would  become  more  and  more  clearly  marked.  The 
executive  would  be  rendered  more  and  more  re- 
sponsible to  the  body  which  has  to  do  with  the 
shaping  of  pohcies.  In  the  case  of  Industry,  this 
body  would  be  the  Directorate  representative  of 
Labor,  Capital,  Management,  and  the  Commu- 
nity, with  Management  advising,  and  often  dictat- 
ing to,  the  other  constituent  elements,  just  as  under 
the  British  constitution,  the  Prime  Minister  and 
his  Cabinet,  and  under  the  American  constitution, 
the  President  and  his  Cabinet,  notwithstanding 
that  their  primary  function  is  executive,  advise, 
and,  within  bounds,  dictate  to  Parhament  and 
Congress  respectively. 

If  in  the  course  of  industrial  evolution  something 
resembling  the  system  of  Representative  and  Re- 
sponsible Government  in  the  State  is  to  be  effected 
in  Industry,  the  evolution  is  certain  to  be  gradual 
and  wholly  intermittent.  It  will  come  in  industries 
individually  before  it  extends  to  Industry  collec- 
tively. It  will  fmd  expression  now  in  this  individ- 
ual enterprise  and  trade,  now  in  that;  here  in  one 
group  of  alhed  trades  and  industries,  there  in  an- 
other and  wholly  different  group ;  and  the  men  who 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  427 

help  to  promote  a  peaceful  development  are  the 
men  whom  History  will  honor. 

The  apphcation  of  principles  underlying  Part- 
nership, on  which  all  the  rest  is  founded,  need  not 
await  the  day  of  equal  representation  of  the  four 
partners  on  Industrial  Directorates.  A  frank  recog- 
nition of  the  fact  that  there  are  four  parties  to  In- 
dustry, instead  of  one,  or  two,  or  three,  and  that 
each  is  entitled  to  a  voice  with  respect  to  conditions 
affecting  itself;  and  an  equally  frank  acceptance  of 
the  principle  of  round  table  conference  through 
representation,  as  the  best  of  methods  of  arriving  at 
a  common  pohcy,  are  all  that  is  necessary  to  start 
the  machinery  of  Government  in  Industry  in  the 
right  direction.  Necessary  adjustments  will  readily 
disclose  themselves,  and  perfecting  processes  can 
be  worked  out  as  time  and  occasion  permit. 

Nor  in  the  effort  to  further  Self-Government  in 
Industry,  is  it  necessary  to  fashion  all  develop- 
ments in  one  and  the  same  mould.  It  will  serve  our 
day  and  generation  if,  in  the  making  of  necessary 
adjustments,  w^e  are  true  to  the  broad  conception 
of  Industry  as  a  joint  venture  in  which  there  are 
the  four  partners,  each  interested  in  the  joint  prod- 
uct, and  each  concerned  in  rendering  a  much 
needed  social  service.  Progress  hitherto  has  been 
impeded  through  a  false  emphasis,  by  one  or  other 
of  the  parties,  upon  a  sole  right  of  control;  and  by 


428  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

a  forgetting  that  Industry  is  something  more  than 
a  revenue  producing  process;  that  it  is  a  form  of  the 
highest  social  service  as  well. 

The  day  of  ultimate  achievement  may  be  far  off, 
but  the  ideal,  if  it  does  nothing  more  than  enlarge 
our  range  of  vision,  serves  a  useful  purpose.  It  is 
sufficient,  for  the  present,  to  comprehend  that  a 
Constitution  is  in  the  process  of  making.  The  ex- 
pression in  words  of  the  Constitution  Industry  has 
already  won  will  do  much  to  promote  the  develop- 
ment of  harmonious  and  just  relations  between  the 
parties  to  Industry. 

The  Magna  Charta,  the  Petition  of  Right,  and 
the  Bill  oi  Rights,  constitute,  in  the  words  of  Lord 
Chatham,  "  the  Bible  of  the  Enghsh  Constitution." 
Taswell-Langmead  has  pointed  out  ^  that  in  each  of 
these  documents,  whether  it  be  of  the  thirteenth 
or  of  the  seventeenth  century,  is  observable  the 
common  characteristic  of  professing  to  introduce 
nothing  new.  Each  professed  to  assert  rights  and 
hberties  which  were  already  old,  and  sought  to 
redress  grievances  which  were  for  the  most  part 
innovations  upon  the  ancient  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple. Is  the  time  not  now  at  hand  when,  out  of 
rights  universally  recognized  and  hberties  gen- 
erally conceded,  an  Industrial  Constitution  can  be 
framed  which  will  serve  to  all  the  parlies  to  Indus- 
try as  a  bulwark  of  freedom  in  the  period  of  transi- 

1  Eng.  Const.  Hist.,  p.  79. 


GOVERNMENT  IN  INDUSTRY  429 

tion  through  which  even  now  we  are  passing,  and  in 
distant  years  to  come?  After  all,  have  we,  perhaps, 
not  reached  the  stage  in  the  evolution  of  govern- 
ment in  Industry  where  we  can  apply  to  those 
highest  in  authority  the  dignified  utterances  of  Sir 
Edward  Coke?  "Was  it  ever  known  that  general 
words  were  a  sufficient  satisfaction  for  general 
grievances?  The  King's  answer  is  very  gracious; 
but  what  is  the  law  of  the  realm?  that  is  the  ques- 
tion. I  put  no  diffidence  in  His  Majesty;  but  the 
King  must  speak  by  record,  and  in  particulars,  and 
not  in  general.  Let  us  put  up  a  Petition  of  Right ;  not 
that  I  distrust  the  King,  but  that  I  cannot  take  his 
trust,  save  in  a  parliamentary  way." 


CHAPTER  XII 
EDUCATION  AND  OPINION 

The  final  word  in  the  solution  of  the  problems  of 
Industry  lies  with  an  educated  and  intelligent  Pub- 
lic Opinion.  The  fundamental  assumption  of  pop- 
ular government  is  the  control  of  pohtical  affairs 
by  an  opinion  which  is  truly  pubhc.^  Enhghten- 
ment  of  Opinion  is  a  matter  of  Education.  Only 
through  the  agencies  of  Education  and  Pubhc 
Opinion  may  we  hope  for  a  general  acceptance  of 
the  conception  of  Industry  as  being  in  the  nature  of 
pubUc  service,  and  for  the  change  of  attitude  in  the 
relations  of  its  parties  consequent  upon  a  belief  in 
common  as  contrasted  with  opposed  interests.  Only 
through  Education  and  Opinion  supplementing  all 
that  Invention  and  Government  may  be  able  to  do, 
can  general  apphcation  of  principles  underlying 
Peace,  Work,  and  Health  be  assured. 

The  renovation  of  nations,  says  Wilham  James, 
begins  always, among  the  reflective  members  of  the 
State,  and  spreads  slowly  outward  and  downward.  2 
The  thinkers,  the  teachers,  the  spiritual  and  politi- 
cal leaders,  the  practical  idealists  in  business,  hold 
a  country's  future  in  their  hands.   How  to  Irans- 

1  Lowell,  Public  Opinion  and  Popular  Government,  p.  12.] 

2  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psycfiology,  p.  3. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  431 

mit  the  force  of  individual  opinion  and  preference 
into  public  action  has  been  described  as  the  most 
difficult  and  the  most  momentous  question  of  Gov- 
ernment. Intricate  as  it  may  appear,  in  the  midst 
of  dire  necessity  and  surrounded  as  we  are  by.  the 
controversy  of  contending  forces,  we  must  "find  a 
way  or  make  it." 

In  the  affairs  of  men  and  nations,  no  influence 
has  yet  equalled  that  of  example.  Nor  could  it  well 
be  otherwise.  Example  focusses  attention,  and  it 
is  through  attention  that  perceptions  become  trans- 
muted into  knowledge  and  action.  Especially  do 
men  gain  confidence  with  respect  to  any  method 
they  are  using  when  they  believe  that  it  has  the 
support  of  theory  as  well  as  of  practice. 

The  whole  history  of  industrial  relations,  from 
the  simple  and  immediate  contacts  of  the  old  do- 
mestic system  to  the  most  highly  developed  forms 
of  collective  bargaining  between  organized  groups 
of  employers  and  workers,  might  be  drawn  upon  for 
purposes  of  illustration  of  the  apphcation  to  In- 
dustry of  principles  underlying  Peace,  Work,  and 
Health.  1  To  appreciate  the  Trade-union  move- 
ment at  its  true  value,  it  is  necessary  to  understand 

1  The  reader's  attention  is  directed  to  a  volume  entitled  Laio  and 
Order  in  Industry,  by  Julius  Henry  Cohen.  (The  Macmillan  Co., 
New  York,  1916.)  The  account  it  contains  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  the  garment-making  industries  through  collective  bar- 
gaining and  the  introduction  of  juridical  methods  of  adjusting  con- 
troversies is  illuminating  and  instructive.  The  book  is  a  valuable 
contribution  to  this  most  important  subject. 


432  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

that  what  it  aims  at  fundamentally  is  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  labor  standards,  and  J.he 
introduction  into  Industry  of  an  effective  proce- 
dure for  the  settlement  of  all  matters  requiring 
adjustment.  Where  Trade-unionism  has  departed 
from  this  aim,  it  has  prejudiced  its  own  position. 

Like  every  other  great  movement,  Trade-unionism 
has  had  its  weak  apostles,  and  has  at  times  adopted 
pohcies  which,  to  say  the  least,  have  been  inimical 
to  progress.  Delays  and  restrictions  in  output,  the 
monopoly  of  the  closed  shop,  interference  by  vio- 
lence with  the  liberty  and  rights  of  non-union  men 
and  women,  are  practices  which  have  brought 
Trade-unionism  into  disfavor  with  many  who, 
apart  from  anti-social  pohcies  of  the  kind,  would 
have  been  the  first  to  recognize  the  merits  of  a 
movement  founded  upon  principles  of  voluntary 
association  and  mutual  aid.  It  may  not  excuse 
Unionism,  but  it  is  at  least  an  explanation,  in  a 
measure,  that  there  is  not  one  of  these  obnoxious 
practices  which  has  not  found  its  counterpart  in 
policies  of  some  employers  and  of  some  employers* 
associations,  policies  in  no  way  less  degrading  to 
all  who  adopt  and  submit  to  them.  Gutting  down 
wage-rates  where  output  is  increased,  interfering 
with  the  right  of  legitimate  organization,  and  the 
employment  of  spies  are  practices  quite  as  repre- 
hensible on  the  part  of  Capital  and  Management 
as  the  methods  which  have  brought  disrepute  to 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  433 

Trade-unionism.  Both  are  a  part  of  the  warfare 
of  Labor  and  Capital  which  belongs  to  the  realm  of 
ignorance  and  fear,  and  neither  can  have  a  place  in 
any  enlightened  order  of  relations  between  them. 
When  allowances  are  made  for  mistakes  on  both 
sides,  and  recriminations  avoided,  it  must  be  con- 
ceded by  all  who  take  an  impartial  view  of  the 
factors  of  progress  that  Labor  owes  to  the  Trade- 
union  movement  more  than  it  is  possible  to  express 
in  words. 


It  would  be  immensely  valuable,  did  space  per- 
mit, to  cite,  from  joint  agreements  between  organ- 
izations of  Labor  and  Capital,  examples  of  the  ap- 
phcation  of  the  principles  enunciated  in  this  book. 
As  within  the  bounds  of  so  hmited  a  treatise  it  is 
not  possible  more  than  to  sketch  the  merest  out- 
lines, I  must  content  myself,  for  purposes  of  illus- 
tration, with  examples  which  may  be  regarded  as 
signifying  the  inception  and  the  growth  of  an  im- 
portant development  in  Government  in  Industry. 
I  shall  leave  it  to  the  reader  who  is  eager  for  men- 
tion of  the  object  of  his  particular  devotion,  to 
supplement  in  thought  numerous  examples  which 
will  come  readily  enough  to  mind. 

I  take  from  the  United  States,  as  the  one  ex- 
ample, the  plan  of  representation  of  employees  of 


434  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company,  inaugurated 
in  1915;  and  from  Great  Britain,  as  the  other  exam- 
ple, the  Joint  Standing  Industrial  Councils,  recom- 
mended in  the  Whitley  Report  of  1917-18.  The 
principle  of  Joint  Standing  Industrial  Councils  has 
been  approved  by  the  Parhamentary  Committee  of 
the  Trades-Union  Congress  of  Great  Britain,  and 
by  a  large  number  of  representative  employers' 
associations  and  Trades  Unions;  and  the  proposals 
of  the  Whitley  Report  have  been  adopted  by  the 
Government  of  Great  Britain  as  the  corner-stone  of 
its  industrial  reconstruction  policy.  Of  these  exam- 
ples, I  choose  the  former  for  purposes  of  illustra- 
tion, because  it  has  to  do  with  an  industry  which 
is  still  confronted  with  what  may  be  termed  "fron- 
tier conditions";  and  I  select  the  latter  because  it 
has  to  do  with  the  most  highly  developed  organi- 
zation of  Labor  and  Capital  to  be  found  anywhere 
in  the  world.  I  have  a  further  reason  for  the 
choice.  The  Plan  of  Representation  of  Employees 
of  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  was  put 
into  operation  by  the  Company  while  I  was  en- 
gaged upon  an  investigation  of  industrial  relations 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation. 
Without  request  or  suggestion  from  any  source,  I 
visited  Colorado  at  the  time,  and  was  permitted 
by  the  management  of  the  Company  and  its  di- 
rectors the  freest  kind  of  opportunity  to  study  con- 
ditions, and  to  present  constructive  ideas.   Of  the 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  435 

Colorado  development,  therefore,  I  know  whereof 
I  speak.  As  for  the  Whitley  Report,  I  beheve  its 
recommendations  represent  the  most  statesman- 
like proposals  thus  far  made  for  the  future  of  In- 
dustrial Government. 

The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  is  the 
largest  industrial  enterprise  in  the  State  of  Colo- 
rado; it  is  one  of  the  important  industries  of  Amer- 
ica. It  operates  coal  mines  in  twenty  or  more 
Colorado  communities,  iron  mines  in  the  State  of 
Wyoming,  and  an  extensive  steel  plant  at  Pueblo, 
Colorado.  It  employs  between  ten  and  twelve 
thousand  men,  pretty  evenly  divided  between  the 
mines  and  the  Steel  Mills.  The  men  at  both  the 
mines  and  the  mills  are  of  many  nationahties. 
Prior  to  the  War,  only  21  per  cent,  of  the  employees 
at  the  mines  were  native  Americans  (14  per  cent, 
white  and  7  per  cent,  colored),  26  per  cent,  were 
Itahans,  17  per  cent.  Mexicans,  12  per  cent.  Aus- 
trians,  8  per  cent.  Greeks,  and  16  per  cent,  a  mix- 
ture of  other  nationahties,  including  English, 
Scotch,  Welsh,  Russian,  Polish,  Swedish,  Spanish, 
German,  Hungarian,  Bulgarian,  Roumanian,  etc., 
etc.  Of  the  employees  at  the  mills,  a  much  larger 
percentage  are  native  Americans. 

The  mining  camps  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron 
Company  are  largely  in  districts  unorganized  mu- 
nicipally. Until  recently,  living  conditions  in  most 


436  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

of  them  were  such  as  are  to  be  found  in  frontier 
settlements.  Houses  and  shacks  stood  in  rows 
unenclosed,  or  were  scattered  in  clusters  about 
the  canyons  and  prairies.  There  was  httle  in  the 
way  of  pubhc  control.  Law  and  order  was  main- 
tained for  the  most  part  by  Company  officials. 
Stores,  churches,  boarding-houses,  places  of  amuse- 
ment, all  were  owned  or  assisted  by  the  Com- 
pany. This  condition  of  affairs  owed  its  origin,  not 
to  any  desire  or  determination  on  the  part  of  the 
Corporation  to  be  feudahstic  or  paternal;  it  was 
simply  that,  except  for  the  Company's  interest  in 
such  matters,  facilities  of  the  kind  would  not  have 
been  provided  in  the  localities  where  the  mines 
were  situated,  or,  if  provided,  would  have  been 
fiu'nished  in  all  hkehhood  by  agencies  given  to  ex- 
ploiting the  necessities  and  weaknesses  of  wage- 
earners  in  isolated  communities.  Pioneering  in 
industry,  hke  all  forms  of  pioneering,  is  necessarily 
accompanied  by  much  in  the  way  of  autocratic 
control.  Especially  has  this  been  the  case  in  the 
unsettled  West.  It  is  difficult,  till  a  population 
ceases  to  be  migratory  and  becomes  more  or  less 
stationary,  to  promote  industrial  development  by 
democratic  means. 

Authority  necessarily  exercised  in  an  absolute 
manner  in  any  one  direction  is  apt  to  become  more 
or  less  arbitrary  in  all.  Especially  is  such  the  case 
where  authority  is  delegated.    To  this  rule  the 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  437 

mines  of  Colorado  were  no  exception.  Living  and 
worldng  conditions  alike  were  regulated  by  au- 
thority. Conference  of  any  kind  with  Labor  played 
Httle  or  no  part.  Mine  superintendents  and  pit 
bosses,  however  well  or  ill-disposed,  were  pretty 
much  a  law  unto  themselves.  Management  exer- 
cised a  control  over  its  subordinates,  but  the  voice 
of  Management  was  the  one  and  only  voice.  Even 
Capital  was  hesitant  in  assuming  authority  with 
respect  to  labor  pohcies.  The  Community,  where 
it  was  organized  and  cared  to  exercise  its  power  of 
control,  was  not  without  a  voice,  as,  for  example,  in 
the  enforcement  of  the  mining  laws  respecting 
safety  and  accident,  hours  of  labor,  and  the  hke. 
Except,  however,  where  Hving  and  working  con- 
ditions came  within  the  scope  of  some  State  en- 
actment, the  Community  made  no  attempt  to 
control,  and  these  matters  were  left  to  Company 
regulation,  and  to  Company  regulation  exclusively. 
Labor's  attitude,  so  long  as  work  was  plentiful,  was 
supposed  to  be  that  of  "being  seen  and  not  heard." 
Nor  were  these  conditions  peculiar  to  any  one 
company.  They  were  more  or  less  characteristic 
of  every  hke  concern.  They  are  conditions  common 
to  most  industries  which  venture  into  unsettled 
regions  and  grow  up  under  pioneering  conditions. 
Indeed,  they  are  conditions  that  persist  to-day  in 
multitudes  of  industrial  estabhshments  every- 
where. 


438  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

In  1915,  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company 
deliberately  adopted  a  wholly  new  attitude  in  the 
matter  of  its  industrial  relations.  It  changed  its  pol- 
icy from  one  of  exclusive  control  on  the  part  of  Man- 
agement to  one  of  recognized  joint-control  on  the 
part  of  the  four  parties  to  Industry:  Capital,  Man- 
agement, Labor,  and  the  Community.  Wherever 
with  prudence  it  seemed  possible  to  substitute  a  re- 
lationship of  joint-control  by  the  several  parties  for 
the  one  of  exclusive  control  by  Management,  a  be- 
ginning in  the  new  kind  of  relationship  was  made. 

Assuming  the  responsibiUties  as  well  as  the  priv- 
ileges of  a  shareholder,  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr., 
went  from  New  York  to  Colorado  to  participate  in 
person  in  the  inauguration  of  the  new  pohcy.  He 
met  the  miners  in  their  homes,  at  the  working  face 
in  the  mines,  and  in  open  meeting  at  several  of  the 
camps.  To  one  and  all  he  dehvered  the  same  mes- 
sage. "They  tell  you,"  he  said,  referring  to  popular 
comment  on  the  disturbances  of  a  few  months  pre- 
vious, "  that  we  are  enemies.  I  have  come  here  to  tell 
you  that  we  are  not  enemies,  but  partners.  Labor 
and  Capital  are  partners,  not  enemies.  Neither  one 
can  get  on  without  the  other.  Their  interests  are 
common,  not  antagonistic." 

And  so  the  new  pohcy  of  Partnership  was  an- 
nounced. It  was  not  permitted  to  evaporate  in 
words.  The  principle  of  Representation  was  made 
the  basis  of  a  plan  of  government  within  the  Indus- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  439 

try,  which  covered  every  phase  of  the  Company's 
relations  with  its  employees,  and  took  cognizance, 
as  respects  possible  readjustments,  of  the  existence 
of  four  parties  to  Industry,  and  of  their  common 
interest  in  a  joint  venture.  An  Agreement  in  the 
nature  of  a  Collective  Bargain  respecting  Employ- 
ment, Living,  and  Working  Conditions  was  drawn 
up  between  Management  and  Labor,  and  signed 
by  the  representatives  of  each. 

In  addition  to  a  formal  statement  of  terms  of 
employment,  the  Agreement  provided  machinery 
for  the  uncovering  and  early  ehmination  of  griev- 
ances, and  an  orderly  and  expeditious  procedure 
for  the  settlement  of  all  matters  requiring  adjust- 
ment. It  included  an  undertaking  to  refer  to  the 
State's  Industrial  Commission  all  questions  not 
satisfactorily  settled  by  these  means,  and  to  regard 
the  findings  of  that  body  as  binding  upon  all  par- 
ties. Protection  of  Employees'  Representatives 
against  discrimination  was  secured  in  Uke  manner. 

An  Employees'  Bill  of  Rights  was  included,  in 
which  were  incorporated  principles  and  policies  to 
govern  the  relations  of  the  parties  in  matters  of 
possible  controversy.  This  Magna  Charta  asserted 
the  obligation  of  a  strict  observance  of  federal  and 
state  laws  respecting  mining  and  labor;  and  the 
posting,  in  a  conspicuous  place  at  or  near  every 
mine,  of  the  scale  of  wages  and  the  rules  in  regard 
to  working  conditions.  It  enumerated  such  funda- 


440  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

mental  rights  as  the  right  of  employees  to  caution 
or  suspension  before  discharge,  the  right  of  free  as- 
semblage, of  membership  or  non-membership  with- 
out discrimination  in  any  society  or  organization, 
the  right  to  a  full  investigation  of  grievances  and 
to  appeal  against  injustice  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest  officer  of  the  Company,  and  from  there,  if 
desired,  to  the  State  Commission. 

The  principle  of  the  Open  Door  between  the 
management  and  employees  was  emphasized  by 
the  provision  of  comprehensive  machinery  for  the 
election  of  representatives  by  employees,  and  by 
providing  regular  facilities  for  access  by  employees' 
representatives  to  the  management,  and  for  consul- 
tation by  the  management  with  representatives  of 
the  employees.  Employees  were  given  a  voice  in  de- 
termining conditions  under  which  they  were  to  work 
by  the  provision  of  means  to  bargain  collectively 
through  chosen  representatives,  and  by  represen- 
tation, along  with  representatives  of  the  manage- 
ment, on  Joint  Standing  Committees,  with  provi- 
sion for  regular  meetings  of  such  committees  for 
discussion  of  matters  of  conmion  interest,  and  mat- 
ters of  special  concern  to  employees.  In  this  man- 
ner it  was  sought  to  promote  just  and  harmonious 
relations  between  Management  and  Labor;  to  en- 
able Labor  to  increase  its  knowledge  of  industrial 
processes  and  interest  in  the  work  in  which  it  is 
engaged;  to  further  a  community  of  interest  on  all 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  441 

matters  pertaining  to  works  organization  and  effi- 
ciency; to  maintain  maximum  production  and 
avoid  the  discontinuance  of  industrial  operations. 
The  principle  of  Round  Table  Conference  and 
the  democratic  procedure,  which  were  to  be  out- 
standing features  of  the  new  partnership,  were 
frankly  exhibited  in  the  manner  in  which  the  plan 
of  Industrial  Representation  was  matured  and 
adopted.  The  miners  were  called  upon  to  choose  by 
secret  ballot  from  among  themselves  not  less  than 
one  representative  for  every  one  hundred  and  fifty 
of  their  number.  Representatives  thus  chosen  as- 
sembled in  joint  meeting  with  representatives  of 
the  stockholders  and  of  the  management,  includ- 
ing superintendents,  and  the  Plan  of  Representa- 
tion in  all  its  details  was  openly  and  freely  dis- 
cussed. Subsequently,  by  secret  ballot  at  each  of 
the  camps,  it  was  submitted  to  vote  of  the  em- 
ployees for  ratification  or  rejection.  Simultane- 
ously, it  was  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Directors. 
By  the  latter  body,  it  was  adopted  unanimously; 
and  at  the  camps,  by  a  popular  majority  of  80  per 
cent,  of  the  votes  cast,  the  total  vote  at  each  of  the 
camps  representing  the  great  majority  of  workers. 
In  this  manner  an  Industrial  Constitution  was 
framed  and  adopted  within  an  enterprise  which,  but 
the  year  before,  was  involved,  together  with  other 
mining  companies  of  the  State,  in  one  of  the  most 
unfortunate  confhcts  in  American  industrial  history. 


442  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

On  December  21,  1914,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  appointed  a  Federal  Commission  on 
the  Labor  Difficulties  in  the  Coal  Fields  of  Colo- 
rado. The  members  were  the  late  Honorable  Seth 
Low,  of  New  York  City,  Mr.  Charles  W.  Mills,  a 
prominent  Eastern  coal  operator,  and  the  late  Mr. 
Patrick  Gilday,  a  leading  official  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America.  The  Commission  visited 
Colorado  in  the  latter  part  of  1915,  and  presented 
its  report  to  the  President  on  February  23,  1916.^ 
Naturally,  the  Industrial  Representation  Plan  of 
the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  came  in  for 
extended  notice.  The  Commission  gave  exhaustive 
study  to  the  principles  underlying  the  Plan,  as  well 
as  to  its  workings  in  practice.  The  Commission's 
unanimous  findings  are  therefore  of  special  value 
and  interest.  They  constitute  an  expert  and  im- 
partial verdict  by  an  official  federal  tribunal  on  the 
significance,  purpose,  and  possibihties  of  the  Plan. 

In  their  report,  the  Commissioners  say: 

"The  plan  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Co.  to 
regulate  by  contract  its  relation  with  its  own  em- 
ployees and  to  provide  under  the  terms  of  said  con- 
tract for  the  adjustment  of  grievances  is  also  a  new 
departure  in  the  United  States.  Indeed,  your  Com- 
mission knows  of  nothing  just  like  it  in  force  any- 
where.  The  importance  of  it,  as  an  effort  on  the 

1  Report  of  the  Colorado  Coal  Commission  on  Labor  Difficulties 
in  the  Coal  Fields  of  Colorado  during  the  years  19 14  and  19 15,  64th 
Congress,  ist  Session;  Document  No.  869. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  443 

part  of  a  large  corporation  to  regulate  its  relations 
with  its  own  employees,  by  contracting  with  them 
instead  of  through  a  trade  agreement  made  with  a 
labor  union,  justifies  your  Commission  in  discus- 
sing this  plan  with  great  care. 

'^The  plan  is  conceived  of  by  the  Colorado  Fuel 
&  Iron  Co.  as  something  more  than  a  means  of  es- 
caping from  dealing  with  the  union.  If  the  large 
significance  of  it  is  to  be  understood,  the  philosophy 
upon  which  it  is  based  should  be  made  clear.  The 
plan  assumes  that  the  development  in  industry  in 
this  country  has  run,  and  is  hkely  to  run,  parallel 
in  the  main  to  the  pohtical  development  under 
democratic  conditions.  In  political  hfe  the  first 
struggle  with  arbitrary  power  is  for  a  magna 
charta;  or,  as  we  would  say,  in  this  country,  a  bill 
of  rights.  This  being  obtained,  the  next  demand  is 
for  representation  on  the  part  of  those  whose  rights 
have  been  recognized. 

"Representation  in  the  first  instance  has  been 
achieved  by  a  part  of  the  body  pohtic  only;  but 
time  has  inevitably  broadened  such  representation 
till  all  are  included.  Representation  being  granted, 
the  next  step  is  to  make  the  executive  responsible 
to  the  representatives,  as  in  England;  or  directly  to 
the  people,  as  in  this  country.  That,  in  brief,  has 
been  the  course  of  democratic  poUtical  develop- 
ment. The  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Co.'s  plan,  to  be 
understood,  should  be  studied  in  the  light  of  this 
illustration.  The  plan  assumes  that  the  control  of 
industry  is  to  have  a  development  parallel  to  that 
of  public  affairs;  and  that  this  development  has  al- 
ready proceeded  up  to  the  point  now  to  be  indi- 
cated. The  plan  recognized  that  the  trade  union 
has  striven  to  secure  for  labor,  unorganized  as  well 
as  organized,  and  to  a  great  extent  has  succeeded  in 
securing  for  all  labor  its  bill  of  rights;  namely. 


444  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

among  other  things,  its  right  to  organize,  its  right 
to  representation,  and  its  right  to  collective  bar- 
gaining as  to  even>lhing  relating  to  hours  of  labor, 
rates  of  pay,  and  conditions  of  employment.  To 
the  extent  that  labor  is  organized  the  men  in  the  or- 
ganization have  secured  industrial  representation, 
while  unorganized  labor  is  without  such  representa- 
tion. 

"Following  out  this  idea,  the  Colorado  Fuel  & 
Iron  Co.  has  put  into  its  contract  with  its  men  that 
every  one  of  them  has  the  absolute  right  openly  to 
belong  to  a  labor  union  or  not,  as  he  pleases;  but,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  many  men  in  the  company's 
employ  do  not  belong  to  labor  unions,  it  offers  the 
rights  of  representation,  which  are  embodied  in  the 
company's  plan  to  unorganized  labor  in  its  employ 
as  well  as  to  organized  labor.  In  other  words,  as  be- 
tween the  company  and  its  employees,  all  have  the 
right  of  representation,  and  not  those  only  who  are 
organized.  If  the  political  parallel  is  to  be  further 
justified,  the  time  is  likely  to  come  when,  in  some 
way,  the  working  force  will  have  some  measure  of 
control  over  the  executive;  but,  pending  that  de- 
velopment, the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Co.'s  plan 
provides  for  the  submission  by  agreement  to  the 
State  Industrial  Commission  of  Colorado  of  all 
questions  in  dispute  between  the  company  and 
its  employees  as  to  '  any  matter  pertaining  to  the 
prevention  and  settlement  of  industrial  disputes, 
terms,  and  conditions  of  employment,  maintenance 
of  order  and  disciphne  in  the  several  camps,  com- 
pany's stores,  etc'  The  contract  binds  the  com- 
pany to  accept  the  industrial  commission's  findings 
on  any  of  these  matters.  .  .  . 

"The  essential  features  of  the  plan  seem  to  your 
commission  to  be  (1)  that  the  relations  between  the 
company  and  its  employees,  as  a  body,  are  defined 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  445 

by  contract;  (2)  that  every  employee  is  guaranteed 
the  right  to  belong  to  a  labor  union  or  not,  as  he 
pleases;  and  (3)  that  the  men  in  each  mine  under 
this  contract  arc  entitled  to  choose  their  own  repre- 
sentatives, these  representatives  being  protected 
against  abuse  by  the  company  by  a  clause  in  the 
contract  which  entitles  them,  if  they  even  think 
they  have  been  discriminated  against  because  of 
their  action  as  representatives  of  the  men,  to  appeal 
to  the  industrial  commission  of  the  State;  and  the 
contract  binds  the  company  on  this  point  also,  to 
accept  as  final  the  finding  of  the  State  industrial 
commission.  The  contract  provides  that  any  miner 
having  a  grievance,  or  any  group  of  miners,  may 
appeal  from  one  authority  to  another  until  the  pre- 
sident of  the  company  is  reached.  The  influence  of 
this  provision,  although  the  contract  has  been  in 
operation  so  short  a  time,  has  been  greatly  to  modify 
the  attitude  of  the  mine  foremen  and  mine  superin- 
tendents and  of  the  subordinate  officials. 

"The  temptation  to  be  arbitrary  is  greatly  les- 
sened when  an  official  knows  that  an  appeal  will  lie 
from  his  decision,  and  the  company  is  already  find- 
ing that  an  increasing  number  of  complaints  are 
adjusted  locally.  The  plan  provides  further  for  the 
selection  of  four  joint  committees  representative  of 
the  company  and  of  its  employees :  (1)  On  industrial 
co-operation  and  conciliation;  (2)  on  safety  and  ac- 
cidents; (3)  on  sanitation,  health,  and  housing;  and 
(4)  on  recreation  and  education.  This  part  of  the 
plan  went  into  operation  only  with  the  beginning 
of  this  year.  It  evidently  contemplates  the  most 
far-reaching  co-operation  between  the  employees 
as  a  body  and  the  corporation,  as  to  all  matters 
which  affect  the  working  and  living  conditions  of 
the  employees.  It  assumes  co-operation  between 
the  parties  and  not  antagonism.  .  .  . 


446  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

"Your  Commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  the 
plan  has  been  adopted  by  the  Colorado  Fuel  & 
Iron  Co.  in  entire  £?ood  faith  and  is  being  operated 
with  a  single-hearted  desire  to  make  it  successful. 
.  .  .  Your  Commission  cannot  believe  that  a  body 
of  American  men  granted  such  rights  as  the  Colo- 
rado Fuel  &  Iron  Co.'s  employees  now  enjoy  under 
this  plan  by  formal  contract  can  permanently  be 
deprived  of  those  rights." 

The  Industrial  Representation  Plan  of  the  Colo- 
rado Fuel  and  Iron  Company  has  been  in  operation 
for  a  period  of  over  three  years. ^  The  most  preju- 
diced observer  could  not  deny  the  abundant  growth 
of  good-will  there  has  been  within  that  time.  The 
industry  has  progressed  as  never  before  in  its  entire 
existence.  Happy  and  prosperous  communities, 
assuming  the  aspect  of  garden  villages,  in  which 
community  activities  are  being  more  and  more 
community  controlled,  speak  of  the  new  citizenship 
which  is  receiving  its  training  in  government,  while 
it  safeguards  working  and  living  conditions,  and 
contributes  to  the  establishment  of  an  Industrial 
Code,  —  a  Code  of  Procedure,  and  of  Principles  in 
the  Adjustment  of  Matters  of  Industrial  Contro- 
versy, —  on  which  Industry  will  yet  build  anew. 
The  Joint  Committees  have  been  a  revelation  to 
the  Management  not  less  than  to  the  workers. 
They  have  stimulated  a  friendly  atmosphere,  and 
have  led  to  the  adoption  of  many  important  sug- 

*  The  Plan  was  duly  inaugurated  on  October  2,  19 15. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  447 

gestions,  with  not  less  of  gain  to  Capital,  Manage- 
ment, and  the  Community  than  of  immediate 
benefit  to  Labor. 

The  annual  joint  meeting  of  all  the  representa- 
tives and  Company  officials,  another  feature  pro- 
vided by  the  Constitution,  is  an  Industrial  Parlia- 
ment in  embryo.  It  is  called  to  receive  reports  by 
the  several  Joint  Committees  covering  the  work 
of  the  year,  and  to  consider  matters  of  common  in- 
terest requiring  collective  action.  There  is  no  dis- 
tinction of  race  or  creed,  of  color  or  of  language. 
Organized  and  unorganized,  skilled  and  unskilled 
Labor,  all  are  represented  there  together  with  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Directors  and  Management. 
Nowhere  could  a  more  cosmopolitan  assemblage  be 
found.  Over  thirty  nationalities  find  representation 
in  that  annual  gathering.  As  many  as  ten  have  had 
representatives  of  their  own  race.  The  Constitu- 
tion itself  is  printed  in  seven  different  languages. 

The  Plan  of  Industrial  Representation  is  not  yet 
fully  developed;  it  may  have  decided  limitations; 
it  may  not  be  all  that  some  of  Labor's  advocates 
may  wish  it  to  be.  It  is  well,  perhaps,  to  remember 
that  it  is  but  a  beginning;  and  that  the  beginnings 
of  political  democracies  are  crude  enough  when 
contrasted  with  developments  of  later  times.  It  is 
at  least  an  honest  attempt  permanently  to  improve 
relations  between  the  parties  to  Industry;  to  in- 
troduce democratic  means  of  preserving  Law  and 


448  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Order  in  Industry;  and  to  open  the  way  for  the  de- 
velopment of  Industrial  Self-Government  among 
workers  many  of  whom  are  learning  the  principles 
of  freedom  for  the  first  time.  Ignorance  of  its  true 
purpose,  or  wilful  endeavor  to  thwart  its  possibili- 
ties, may  destroy  the  usefulness  of  the  Plan,  —  they 
will  destroy  anything,  —  but  given  a  fair  chance, 
and  fostered  in  the  spirit  which  promoted  its  incep- 
tion, there  are  no  limits  to  the  service  its  develop- 
ment is  capable  of  rendering  both  the  State  and 
Industry. 

After  three  years*  successful  operation,  the  Plan 
must  be  regarded  as  something  other  than  an  ex- 
periment. If  it  had  done  nothing  more  than  suggest 
the  possibihties  of  the  representative  idea  apphed 
to  Industry  under  circumstances  as  untoward  and 
difficult  as  any  ever  likely  to  be  faced,  it  would  be 
deserving  of  every  recognition.  But  it  has  done 
more  than  that.  It  has  conclusively  demonstrated 
that  monopoly  of  control  in  Industry  may  give  way, 
with  common  advantage,  to  Round  Table  Confer- 
ence and  Joint-Control  of  Industry  based  upon  the 
idea  of  Partnership:  a  demonstration  highly  signifi- 
cant in  a  time  of  pohtical  and  industrial  transition 
like  the  present.  As  such,  it  is  entitled  to  a  place  in 
the  foundations  of  a  new  order,  wherein  all  that  the 
past  has  achieved  in  the  development  of  free  pohti- 
cal institutions  will  yet  play  a  part  in  the  evolution 
of  the  highest  forms  of  Industrial  Government. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  '449 

II 

In  Great  Britain  the  attention  recently  given  to 
methods  of  improving  the  relations  of  Capital  and 
Labor  has  been  due  to  a  much  needed  solution  of 
practical  problems  in  Industry  for  which  the  War 
is  responsible,  and  to  the  question  of  the  control 
of  Industry  which  it  has  forced  to  the  fore.  Con- 
fronted with  the  necessity  of  vastly  increasing  out- 
put, all  classes  have  been  compelled  to  recognize 
the  great  importance  of  Labor's  part  in  production. 

Assent  to  methods  of  highest  efficiency  involved 
on  the  part  of  Labor  a  surrender  of  restrictive  de- 
vices by  which  through  the  past  Labor  has  sought  to 
fortify  itself  against  the  exclusive  control  of  Capital 
and  Management.  To  win  Labor's  acquiescence, 
the  Government  (obliged,  in  its  representative  ca- 
pacity, to  assert  the  position  of  the  Community  as 
one  of  the  parties  to  Industry)  found  it  imperative 
to  extend  to  Labor  something  of  that  participation 
in  control  of  policy  which  underhes  partnership. 
From  sharing  confidences  with  Labor  in  conference, 
it  passed  to  a  consideration  of  methods  whereby  the 
control  of  Industry  might  also  be  effectively  shared. 
Official  [expression  of  the  new  attitude  was  given 
in  three  important  government  inquiries:  one  con- 
ducted by  the  Reconstruction  Committee  (now 
the  Ministry  of  Reconstruction)  through  a  Sub- 
committee on  Relations  between  Employers  and 


450  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Employed,  of  which  the  Right  Honorable  J.  H. 
Whitley,  M.P.,  was  the  chairman;  another  by  the 
Ministry  of  Labor,  through  members  of  the  De- 
partment, as  to  the  constitution  and  working  of 
Works  Committees  in  a  number  of  different  indus- 
tries; and  the  third  by  a  Commission  on  Industrial 
Unrest,  appointed  by  the  Prime  Minister. 

The  Sub-committee  of  which  Mr.  Whitley  was 
chairman  was  appointed  by  the  Reconstruction 
Committee  early  in  1917.  Before  the  close  of  the 
year,  it  had  issued  three  reports:  an  Interim  Report 
on  Joint  Standing  Industrial  Councils,  during  the 
month  of  March;  ^  a  second  Report  on  the  same 
subject;  ^  and  a  supplementary  Report  on  Works 
Committees,  during  October.  ^  These  reports  were 
printed  and  widely  circulated.  Associated  with  the 
name  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  their 
recommendations  became  a  subject  of  general  dis- 
cussion in  the  months  immediately  succeeding. 

The  Report  of  the  inquiry  by  the  Ministry  of  La- 
bor into  Works  Committees  was  made  in  March, 
1918.4 

The  Prime  Minister's  Commission  was  appointed 
on  June  12,  1917,  subsequent  to  the  pubhcation  of 

^  Reconstruction  Committee.  Sub-committee  on  Relations  between 
Einployers  and  Employed.  Interim  Report  on  Joint  Standing  Indus- 
trial Councils.   [Cd.  8606.]  London,  191 7. 

2  Second  Report,  ditto.   [Cd.  9002.]  1918. 

3  Supplementary  Report  on  Works  Committees.  [Cd.  9001.]  1918, 
^  Works  Committees.  Report  of  an  Enquiry  made  by  the  Ministry 

of  Labor.  Ministry  of  Labor  Industrial  Reports,  No.  2. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  451 

the  first  Whitley  Report.  There  were  in  reahty  eight 
special  divisional  commissions  (each  consisting  of 
representatives  of  employers  and  employed,  and  a 
judge  or  other  impartial  chairman),  constituting 
in  combination  one  large  Commission  whose  duty 
it  was  to  inquire  into  and  report  upon  industrial 
unrest,  and  to  make  reconmiendations  to  the  Gov- 
ernment at  the  earliest  practicable  date.  The  Com- 
missions discharged  their  duties  with  remarkable 
promptitude  and  unanimity.  Their  findings,  to- 
gether with  their  recommendations,  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  Government  by  July  17,  just  a  little 
over  a  month  from  the  date  of  the  Commission's 
appointment.^ 

Four  recommendations  of  the  Prime  Minister's 
Commission  are  of  special  importance  in  their  bear- 
ing upon  government  in  Industry.  The  Commis- 
sion recommended  that  the  principle  of  the  Whitley 
Report  as  regards  industrial  councils  should  be 
adopted;  that  each  trade  should  have  a  constitu- 
tion; that  Labor  should  take  part  in  the  affairs  of 
the  community  as  partners,  rather  than  as  serv- 
ants; and  that  closer  contact  should  be  set  up  as 
between  employer  and  employed.  In  a  summary 
by  the  Right  Honorable  G.  N.  Barnes,  M.P.,  and 
Mr.  G.  M.  Hodgson,  the  Commission's  Secretary 
(which  summary  accompanied  the  presentation  of 

^  Reports  of  the  Commission  of  Inquiry  into  Industrial  Unrest,  Lon- 
don, 191 7.  (Reprinted,  Bulletin  of  the  U.S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
No.  287.   Washington,  191 7.) 


452  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  Reports  to  the  Prime  Minister),  emphasis  is 
laid  upon  the  fact  that  the  Reports  bear  a  striking 
testimony  to  the  value  of  the  proposals  made  in  the 
Report  of  the  Sub-committee  of  the  Reconstruction 
Committee  (i.e.,  the  Whitley  Report)  dealing  with 
the  relations  of  employers  and  employed.  It  is 
pointed  out  that  the  Report  was  published  while 
the  Commissioners  were  sitting,  and  that,  broadly 
speaking,  the  principles  therein  laid  down  appear 
to  have  met  with  general  approval.  The  summary 
adds:  "The  feehng  in  the  minds  of  the  workers  that 
their  conditions  of  work  and  destinies  are  being 
determined  by  a  distant  authority  over  which  they 
have  no  influence  requires  to  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration, not  only  by  the  Government,  but  by  the 
unions  themselves."  Not  the  least  significant  find- 
ing of  all  is  the  assertion  that  "the  great  majority 
(  of  the  causes  of  industrial  unrest  specified  in  the 
(reports  have  their  root  in  certain  psychological 
conditions." 

The  personnel  of  the  Sub-committee  of  the  Re- 
construction Committee,  the  occasion  and  manner 
of  its  creation,  the  prominence  given  its  recom- 
mendations in  Parhament,  in  the  press,  by  trade 
unions  and  associations  of  employers,  and,  above 
all,  the  inherent  worth  of  the  principles  it  expounds, 
make  the  Whitley  Report  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant pubhc  documents  which  have  appeared  in 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  453 

England  since  the  commencement  of  the  War. 
No  document  of  like  significance  to  the  future 
relations  of  Labor  and  Capital  has  been  pub- 
hshed,  unless  it  be  the  Report  on  Reconstruc- 
tion by  the  Sub-committee  of  the  British  Labor 
Party,  1  or  the  Memorandum  on  the  Industrial 
Situation  After  the  War,  issued  by  the  Garton 
Foundation. 2  It  is  impossible  to  compare  the  three. 
The  Whitley  Report  is  the  outhne  of  a  scheme  of 
government;  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  Constitution 
for  Industry  as  a  whole.  The  Report  of  the  British 
Labor  Party  is  a  political  programme;  carefully  for- 
mulated, comprehensive,  exceedingly  radical  and 
persuasive,  a  document  certain  to  have  far-reaching 
influence  in  the  shaping  of  opinion.  The  Memo- 
randum of  the  Garton  Foundation  is  a  study  of  the 
more  permanent  causes  of  industrial  friction  and 
inefliciency,  and  of  the  means  by  which  these  causes 
may  be  removed  or  their  action  circumscribed.  As 
a  scientific  analysis  of  the  fundamental  facts  of 
industrial  Ufe,  and  the  principles  underlying  indus- 
trial policy,  nothing  anywhere  published  is  com- 
parable to  it. 

In  appearance,  compared  with  the  Report  of 
the  British  Labor  Party,  or  the  Memorandum  of 

1  Report  on  Reconstruction  by  the  Sub-committee  of  the  British 
Labor  Party,  1918.  (Reprinted  in  The  New  Republic,  New  York,  Feb- 
ruary 16,  1918.) 

2  Memorandum  on  the  Industrial  Situation  After  the  War.  The 
Garton  Foundation.  Harrison  &  Sons,  London,  1916.,, 


^; 


454  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

the  Garton  Foundation,  the  Whitley  Report  lacks 
impressiveness.  It  is  all  contained  in  a  few  pages 
of  a  Government  White  Paper.  It  is  so  simple,  so 
brief,  one  might  wonder  how  it  escaped  obhvion  in 
the  presence  of  the  momentous  issues  amid  which 
its  appearance  was  made.  To  a  single  outstanding 
feature  it  owes  its  distinction.  It  apphes  to  the 
whole  of  Industry  the  principle  of  Representative 
Government. 

England  has  long  been  known  as  the  Mother  of 
Parliaments.  The  peculiar  genius  of  the  British 
peoples  and  of  their  kith  and  kin  has  lain  in  their 
abihty  to  lead  the  world  in  the  development  of  free 
institutions.  This  has  been  achieved  by  putting 
forth  one  idea  at  a  time,  but  hnldng  it  on  to  all  that 
has  preceded.  Enlarging  the  conception  underlying 
Industry  to  one  of  public  service,  and  extending  to 
Industry,  under  pubhc  authority,  the  principle  of 
representative  government,  a  principle  inseparably 
from  British  hberty,  is  as  mighty  a  strokie  of  gen- 
ius as  the  War  has  produced. 

Great  changes  are  being  wrought  in  human  soci- 
ety; pohtical  and  industrial  transformations  well- 
nigh  beyond  comprehension  are  being  effected. 
Reverses  may  follow  successes,  and  successes  re- 
verses in  the  fortunes  of  war;  but,  come  what  may, 
this  thing  at  least  has  been  accomphshed  within 
Industry  and  the  State.  At  a  single  bound.  Free- 
dom has  leaped  forward  in  a  manner  hitherto  un- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  455 

paralleled.  Industrial  Service  has  become  the  moral 
equivalent  of  Military  Service. 

Once  industrial  service  is  recognized  as  being  also 
in  the  nature  of  national  service,  it  will  never  brook 
repression  as  the  basis  of  future  government  in 
Industry.  Representation  on  the  basis  of  indus- 
trial service  will  assert  its  inseparable  union  with 
all  of  Freedom  that  has  gone  before,  or  is  yet 
to  come.  Representation,  founded  upon  service  in 
Industry  and  regarded  as  inseparable  from  serv- 
ice to  the  State,  will  endure  storm  and  conflict; 
vanquished  it  will  never  be.  In  the  end  it  will 
conquer  everywhere  throughout  Industry  and  the 
State. 

What,  then,  are  the  concrete  proposals  of  the 
Whitley  Report?  Perhaps  they  may  best  be  told 
in  the  words  of  the  Report  itself.  Briefly,  they  are 
that  for  each  industry  there  should  be  constituted 
Joint  Industrial  Councils,  composed  of  representa- 
tives of  employers  and  employed,  organized  on  a 
threefold  basis.    The  interim  Report  says :  — 

"In  the  interests  of  the  community  it  is  vital 
that  after  the  War  the  co-operation  of  all  classes 
established  during  the  War,  should  continue,  and 
more  especially  with  regard  to  the  relations  be- 
tween employers  and  employed.  For  securing  im- 
provement in  the  latter,  it  is  essential  that  any  pro- 
posals put  forward  should  offer  to  work-people  the 
means  of  attaining  improved  conditions  of  employ- 


456  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ment  and  a  higher  standard  of  comfort  generally, 
and  involve  the  enlistment  of  their  active  and  con- 
tinuous co-operation  in  the  promotion  of  industry. 
To  this  end,  the  establishment  for  each  industry  of 
an  organization,  representative  of  employers  and 
work-people,  to  have  as  its  object  the  regular  con- 
sideration of  matters  affecting  the  progress  and 
well-being  of  the  trade  from  the  point  of  view  of 
all  those  engaged  in  it,  so  far  as  this  is  consistent 
with  the  general  interest  of  the  community,  appears 
to  be  necessary.  With  a  view  to  providing  means 
for  carrying  out  the  policy  outlined  above,  we  rec- 
ommend that  His  Majesty's  Government  should 
propose  without  delay  to  the  various  associa- 
tions of  employers  and  employed  the  formation 
of  Joint  Standing  Industrial  Councils  in  the  sev- 
eral industries,  where  they  do  not  already  exist, 
composed  of  representatives  of  employers  and  em- 
ployed, regard  being  had  to  the  various  sections 
of  the  industry  and  the  various  classes  of  Labor 
engaged." 


It  is  suggested  that  in  the  well-organized  indus- 
tries, one  of  the  first  questions  to  be  considered 
should  be  the  estabUshment  of  local  and  works 
organizations  to  supplement  and  make  more  effec- 
tive the  work  of  the  central  bodies.  To  enHst  the 
activity  and  support  of  employers  and  employed  in 
the  districts,  and  in  individual  establishments,  is 
regarded  as  equally  necessary  to  securing  co-oper- 
ation at  the  centre  between  the  national  organiza- 
tions. The  National  Industrial  Council  is  not 
therefore  to  be  regarded  as  complete  in  itself;  what 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  457 

is  proposed  is  a  triple  organization  —  in  the  work- 
shops, the  districts,  and  nationally.  Organization 
at  each  of  these  three  stages  is  to  proceed  on  a  com- 
mon principle,  and  the  greatest  measure  of  common 
action  between  them  is  to  be  secured.  District 
Councils,  representative  of  the  Trades  Unions  and  of 
the  Employers'  Associations  in  the  industry,  are  to 
be  created,  or  developed  out  of  existing  machinery, 
for  negotiation  in  the  various  trades.  Works  Com- 
mittees, representative  of  the  management  and  of 
the  workers  employed,  are  to  be  instituted  in  par- 
ticular works  to  act  in  close  co-operation  with  the 
District  and  National  Councils.  The  design  for 
these  Committees  is  to  be  a  matter  of  agreement 
between  the  Trades  Unions  and  Employers'  Asso- 
ciations concerned. 

The  Report  does  not  attempt  to  define  the  re- 
spective functions  of  Works  Committees,  District 
Councils,  and  National  Councils,  but  concedes  that 
they  will  require  to  be  determined  separately  in 
accordance  with  the  varying  conditions  of  the  dif- 
ferent trades.  It  is  pointed  out  that  care  needs  to 
be  taken  in  each  case  to  delimit  accurately  their 
respective  functions  to  avoid  overlapping  and 
friction.  In  the  case  of  all  three  —  the  National 
Councils,  the  District  Councils,  and  the  Works 
Committees  —  stress  is  laid  upon  the  necessity  of 
regular  meetings  and  continuity  of  co-operation. ^ 

1  Among  the  questions  which  it  is  suggested  the  National  Councils 


458  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

The  policy  recommended  in  the  Whitley  Report 
is  based  upon  organization  on  the  part  of  both  em- 
ployers and  employed.  Indeed,  the  extent  to  which 
organization  in  England  has  gone  has  not  only  sug- 
gested, but  has  rendered  imperative,  the  working 

should  deal  with  or  allocate  to  District  Councils  or  Works  Commit- 
tees, the  following  are  selected  for  special  mention : 

(i)  The  better  utilisation  of  the  practical  knowledge  and  experience 
of  the  work-people. 

(ii)  Means  for  securing  to  the  work-people  a  greater  share  in  and 
responsibility  for  the  determination  and  observance  of  the  conditions 
under  which  their  work  is  carried  on. 

(iii)  The  settlement  of  the  general  principles  governing  the  condi- 
tions of  employment,  including  the  methods  of  fixing,  paying,  and 
readjusting  wages,  having  regard  to  the  need  for  seciu-ing  to  the  work- 
people a  share  in  the  increased  prosperity  of  the  industry. 

(iv)  The  establishment  of  regular  methods  of  negotiation  for  issues 
arising  between  employers  and  work-people,  with  a  view  both  to  the 
prevention  of  differences,  and  to  their  better  adjustment  when  they 
appear. 

(v)  Means  of  ensuring  to  the  work-people  the  greatest  possible  se- 
curity of  earnings  and  employment,  without  undue  restriction  upon 
change  of  occupation  or  employer. 

(vi)  Methods  of  fixing  and  adjusting  earnings,  piecework  prices, 
&c.,  and  of  dealing  with  the  many  difficulties  which  arise  with  regard 
to  the  method  and  amount  of  payment  apart  from  the  fixing  of  gen- 
eral standard  rates,  which  are  already  covered  by  paragraph  (iii). 

(vii)  Technical  education  and  training. 

(viii)  Industrial  research  and  the  full  utilisation  of  its  results. 

(ix)  The  provision  of  facihties  for  the  full  consideration  and  utilisa- 
tion of  inventions  and  improvement  designed  by  work-people,  and  for 
the  adequate  safeguarding  of  the  rights  of  the  designers  of  such 
improvements. 

(x)  Improvements  of  processes,  machinery,  and  organization  and 
appropriate  questions  relating  to  management  and  the  examination 
of  industrial  experiments,  with  special  reference  to  co-operation  in 
carrying  new  ideas  into  effect  and  full  consideration  of  the  work- 
people's point  of  view  in  relation  to  them. 

(xi)  Proposed  legislation  affecting  the  industry. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  459 

out  of  some  plan  which  would  accept  conditions, 
and  the  inevitable  trend,  as  they  are,  and  change 
the  Battle  Array  of  competitive  organization  into 
something  in  the  nature  of  Partnership.  It  ha,s 
at  last  been  seen  that  national  order  and  security 
ahke  demand  that  the  government  of  Industry 
be  so  framed  that  work-people,  of  right,  and  not 
because  of  their  possible  resort  to  threatened  or 
actual  force,  shall  have  opportunity  of  partici- 
pating in  the  discussion  about  and  adjustment  of 
those  parts  of  Industry  by  which  they  are  most 
affected. 

Not  only  does  the  plan  presuppose  organiza- 
tion; it  follows  in  structure  existing  organization 
amongst  associations  of  employers  and  the  trades 
unions.  That  is  where  the  British  genius  in  matters 
of  Government  comes  in.  New  structures  are 
reared  upon  old  foundations.  Existing  institutions 
are  accepted  as  they  are  and  adapted  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  age,  and  the  changing  spirit 
of  the  times.  In  the  United  Kingdom,  the  trades 
unions  have  their  local,  district,  and  national  or- 
ganizations, and  their  federations;  the  employers 
are  similarly  organized.  What  the  Whitley  Plan 
does  is  to  take  both  the  organizations  of  Labor 
and  the  organizations  of  Capital  and  unite  them  by 
the  bond  of  a  common  interest  in  a  common  ven- 
ture. It  changes  at  a  single  stroke  the  attitude  of 
these  powerful  aggregations  of  class-interest  from 


460  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

one  of  militancy  into  one  of  social  service.   It  es- 
tablishes a  new  relation  in  Industry.  ^ 

Under  the  Whitley  scheme,  there  thus  extends 
over  the  enterprises  of  each  industry,  taken  col- 
lectively, a  National  Industrial  Council  represent- 
ative of  the  Trades  Unions  and  of  the  Employers' 
Associations  in  the  industry.  At  the  broad  base  of 
the  structure,  and  within  the  several  enterprises, 
are  Works  Committees  representative  of  the  jMan- 
agement  and  of  the  workers  employed.  The  Dis- 
trict Councils  are  an  intermediary  link.  Two  fun- 
damental aims  underlie  this  arrangement :  the  one 
related  to  the  equal  enforcement  of  standards 
throughout  the  industry;  the  other  to  securing 
co-operation  by  granting  to  work-people  a  greater 

^  Obviously,  organization  is  necessary  to  such  an  end.  Where  or- 
ganization is  incomplete  it  is  proposed  that  organization  should  be 
extended.  Here,  again,  the  scheme  takes  account  of  conditions  as 
they  are.  It  divides  the  industries  of  the  country  into  three  groups: 
group  A,  consisting  of  industries  in  which  organization  on  the  part  of 
employers  and  employed  is  sufficiently  developed  to  render  their  re- 
spective associations  representative  of  the  great  majority  of  those 
engaged  in  the  industry ;  group  B,  comprising  those  industries  in 
which,  as  regards  either  employers  or  employed,  or  both,  the  degree 
of  organization,  though  considerable,  is  less  marked  than  in  group  A; 
and  group  C,  consisting  of  industries  in  which  organization  is  so  im- 
perfect, as  regards  either  employers  or  employed,  or  both,  that  no 
associations  can  be  said  adequately  to  represent  those  engaged  in 
groups  B  and  C. 

It  is  proposed,  as  respects  industries  in  group  B,  that  the  triple 
organization  of  national,  district,  and  workshop  bodies  shoulfl  be 
modified  by  attaching  to  each  National  Industrial  Council  one,  or  at 
most  two,  representatives  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  to  act  in  an  ad- 
visory capacity.  For  group  C,  something  in  the  nature  of  special  or 
additional  machinery  is  proposed. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  461 

share  in  the  consideration  of  matters  affecting  their 
employment.  Both  are  to  be  achieved  by  adhering 
to  the  principle  of  keeping  employers  and  work- 
people in  constant  touch. 

With  that  degree  of  rare  caution  which  English- 
men exhibit  in  viewing  whatever  threatens  to  be- 
come an  encroachment  upon  their  liberties,  the 
framers  of  the  Whitley  Report  say:  "It  appears  to 
us  that  it  may  be  desirable  at  some  later  stage  for 
the  State  to  give  the  sanction  of  law  to  agreements 
made  by  the  Councils,  but  the  initiative  in  this 
direction  should  come  from  the  Councils  them- 
selves." "It  is  desirable,"  they  say,  "that  the 
general  body  of  employers  and  employed  in  any 
industry  should  have  some  means  whereby  ttey 
may  bring  the  whole  of  the  trade  up  to  the  standard 
of  minimum  conditions  which  have  been  agreed 
upon  by  a  substantial  majority  of  the  industry." 
The  Joint  Industrial  Councils  provide  the  machin- 
ery whereby,  under  voluntary  agreement,  worthy 
standards  are  to  be  determined. 

To  ensure  the  enforcement  of  standards,  it  is  not 
enough  that  agreements  be  reached  and  ratified  by 
the  State.  Voluntary  co-operation  of  all  parties  is 
essential.  Hence  it  is  represented  by  the  Whitley 
Committee  that,  in  order  to  secure  the  co-operation 
of  Labor,  it  is  necessary  to  grant  to  Labor  a  larger 
opportunity  of  participating  in  the  discussion  about 
and  adjustment  of  those  parts  of  Industry  by  which 


462  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

it  is  most  affected,  and  amid  which  its  hfe  service  is 
carried  on.  This,  the  Committee  asserts,  is  equally 
necessary  as  a  means  of  promoting  industrial  har- 
mony and  efficiency  and  the  maintenance  of  just 
relations  between  employer  and  employed.  It  is  in 
this  connection  that  "Works  Committees"  are  of 
such  importance. 

The  function  of  Works  Committees,  in  their  rela- 
tion to  the  District  and  National  Councils,  is  set 
forth  in  a  paragraph  of  the  Supplementary  Report 
on  Works  Committees,  referred  to  above.  It  may 
be  quoted  in  full  to  advantage.  Section  2  says: 

"Better  relations  between  employers  and  their 
'work-people  can  best  be  arrived  at  by  granting  to 
ithe  latter  a  greater  share  in  the  consideration  of 
matters  with  which  they  are  concerned.   In  every 
industry  there  are  certain  questions,  such  as  rates 
of  wages  and  hours  of  work,  which  should  be  set- 
tled by  District  or  National  agreement,  and  with 
any  matters  so  settled  no  Works  Committee  should 
be  allowed  to  interfere;  but  there  are  also  many 
questions  closely  affecting  daily  life  and  comfort  in, 
and  the  success  of,  the  business,  and  affecting  in  no 
;  small  degree  efficiency  of  worldng,  which  are  pe- 
culiar to  the  individual  workshop  or  factory.  The 
purpose  of  a  Works  Committee  is  to  establish  and 
^maintain  a  system  of  co-operation  in  all  these 
workshop  matters." 

The  report  does  not  suggest  any  definite  form  of 
Constitution  for  the  Works  Committees,  observing 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  463 

very  wisely  that  it  is  best  to  reserve  to  representa- 
tive bodies  of  employers  and  employed  in  each  in- 
dustry the  maximum  degree  of  freedom  to  settle 
this  for  themselves,  with  regard  in  each  case  to  the 
particular  circumstances  of  the  trade  and  attendant 
conditions.  What  the  report  seeks  to  emphasize  is 
the  importance  of  Works  Committees  as  a  means 
of  enlisting  the  interest  of  the  workers  in  the  suc- 
cess both  of  the  industry  to  which  they  are  at- 
tached, and  of  the  workshop  or  factory  or  mine 
where  so  much  of  their  life  is  spent.  The  report 
suggests  regular  meetings  at  fixed  times,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule  not  less  frequently  than  once  a  fortnight. 
As  concerns  the  Works  Committees,  it  is  urged  that 
the  idea  of  constructive  operation  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  industry  to  which  they  belong  should 
be  kept  to  the  forefront;  that  suggestions  of  all 
kinds  tending  to  improvement  should  be  frankly 
welcomed  and  freely  discussed;  and  that  practical 
proposals  should  be  examined  from  all  points  of 
view.  "Problems  old  and  new,"  says  the  report, 
"will  fmd  their  solution  in  a  frank  partnership  of 
knowledge,  experience  and  good-will."^ 

^  The  report  prepared  by  the  Ministry  of  Labor  on  the  experience 
available  with  reference  to  Works  Committees  is  a  valuEible  treatise 
on  the  objects,  functions,  methods  of  procedure,  and  constitutions 
which  have  been  tried  in  actual  practice.  It  points  out  that,  while 
committees  representative  of  all  the  work-people  in  an  establishment 
existed  before  the  War  in  various  industries,  in  certain  industries,  not- 
ably engineering,  the  conditions  of  war  have  produced  such  a  change 
in  both  the  form  and  function  of  workshop  organization,  that  the 


464  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Once  the  significance  of  all  this  is  grasped,  a 
whole  cloud-bank  of  mystifying  doubt  concerning 
the  solution  of  the  problems  of  Industry  lifts,  and  a 
flood  of  light  is  let  in  upon  dark  places  and  baffling 
situations.  Through  a  regard  for  the  world  aspect 
and  the  human  aspect  of  industrial  problems,  a  way 
is  at  last  discerned  whereby  order  may  be  brought 
out  of  confusion. 

To  render  impossible  the  undermining  of  indus- 
trial standards  by  unscrupulous  competitors;  to 
prevent  the  base  from  driving  out  the  pure,  the  low 
from  dragging  down  the  high;  to  circumvent  the 
Law  of  Competing  Standards,  constitutes,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  problem  of  problems  in  Industry. 
Its  solution  is  nowhere  to  be  found,  save  in  making 
equal  standards  prevail  over  entire  competitive 
areas.  In  two  ways  only  can  this  be  effected:  by 
Force,  or  by  Consent;  by  compulsion,  at  the  in- 
stance of  the  State,  or  by  voluntary  agreement  be- 
tween the  parties  concerned.  Compulsion  means 
more  and  more  of  authority,  more  and  more  of  in- 
terference with  Industry  by  the  State,  and  involves 
inevitable  dissatisfaction,  inadequate  performance, 
and  vast  expense.  Voluntary  agreement,  on  the 
other  hand,  means  increase  of  good-mil,  self- 
direction,  and  control,  and  a  minimum  of  expense. 
The  framers  of  the  Whitley  proposals  believe  that, 

discussion  of  the  general  idea  of  Works  Committees  may  be  said  to 
have  developed  out  of  these  conditions. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  465 

having  received  the  sanction  of  a  majority  in  an  in- 
dustry on  both  sides,  standards  can  readily  be  made 
binding  upon  all  in  the  industry,  and  cannot  be 
rendered  incapable  of  general  enforcement  through 
the  action  of  deficient  or  unscrupulous  minorities. 
Here  is  faith  in  Government  based  on  Opinion; 
here  also  are  foundations  of  the  broadest  kind  for 
the  development  of  Self-Government  in  Industry. 


Ill 

It  is  impossible  to  read  the  Whitley  Report 
without  being  impressed  by  the  similarity  of  the 
ideas  of  its  recommendations  and  those  underly- 
ing the  Plan  of  Industrial  Representation  in  Colo- 
rado. What  the  latter  attempts  for  a  single  indus- 
trial enterprise,  the  former  regards  as  essential  for 
Industry  as  a  whole.  They  are  alike  in  providing 
a  Constitution  for  Industry;  in  effecting  organiza- 
tion that  collective  bargaining  may  ensue;  in  em- 
phasizing the  importance  of  joint  agreement  be- 
tween Capital  and  Labor  on  terms  and  conditions 
of  employment;  in  bringing  about  a  community  of 
interest  and  common  action  through  the  represen- 
tation of  the  parties  on  Joint  Standing  Committees 
whereby  Management  and  employees  are  kept  in 
constant  touch;  and  in  their  recognition  of  the 
State's  function  both  as  a  partner  in  Industry  and 
as  the  guardian  of  Community  well-being.  They 


466  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

are  alike  based  on  the  theory  that  the  day  of  auto- 
cratic control  of  Industry  by  any  one  of  its  partners 
is  past,  and  that  the  place  of  single  control  must 
more  and  more  be  taken  by  joint  control  on  the 
part  of  all.  In  both  the  Whitley  proposals  and  the 
Colorado  Plan,  the  principle  of  the  Open  Door  be- 
tween Management  and  Labor,  the  principle  of 
Representation,  and  the  principle  of  Round  Table 
Conference,  are  made  to  pave  the  way  for  a  genuine 
Industrial  Partnership.  Both  seek  the  introduction 
of  Representative  Government  into  Industry. 

It  may  add  to  such  interest  as  attaches  to  simi- 
larity in  these  developments,  separated  by  over 
two  years  in  time,  and  by  vast  distance  in  space, 
to  have  it  known  that  the  one  was  in  no  way  con- 
nected with  the  other.  The  Whitley  Report  owed 
its  inspiration  to  sources  which  were  wholly  inde- 
pendent. In  a  sense,  both  owe  their  origin  to  ideas 
that  were  "in  the  air."  Both  ahke  are  certainly 
indebted  to  past  developments  in  the  Trade-union 
movement.  1 

While  Works  Conmiittees,  in  the  nature  of  joint 
committees  representative  of  Management  and  La- 

*  The  Memorandum  of  the  Garton  Foundation  was  issued  in  Octo- 
ber, 1916.  It  had  been  privately  circulated  among  employers,  repre- 
sentatives of  Labor,  and  public  men  of  all  parties,  between  the  months 
of  May  and  September  of  that  year.  It  was  published  as  revisetl  in 
the  light  of  criticisms  and  suggestions  received.  In  many  particulars 
the  recommendations  of  the  Whitley  Committee  and  suggestions  con- 
tained in  the  Garton  Foundation  Memorandum  bear  evidence  of  a 
common  inspiration.  ^ 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  467 

bor,  have  come  into  existence  and  prominence  in 
Britain  chiefly  since  the  beginning  of  the  War,  and 
have  commenced  to  fmd  a  place  in  industries  in 
America,  the  Works  Committee,  on  the  whole, 
springs  from  the  common  methods  of  Trade-union 
organization  inside  the  workshop.  The  Unions 
have  set  the  example;  they  have  forced  the  pace. 
The  long  and  persistent  struggle  of  Labor  to  effect 
and  develop  organization,  a  struggle  extending  in 
England  over  a  century,  and  in  America  for  a 
period  briefer  only  by  a  generation,  has  made  the 
substance  and  the  structure  of  Trade-unionism  in 
the  Old  World  and  in  the  New  what  they  are  to-day. 
It  is  that  structure  in  its  entirety  which  the  Whit- 
ley Report  proposes  the  State  should  frankly  rec- 
ognize and  continue  to  build  upon;  that,  and  the 
structure  of  Organized  Management  and  Organized 
Capital,  reared  in  large  part  to  oppose  it. 

Were  mihtancy  to  remain  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  these  hitherto  opposing  forces, 
the  program  outhned  in  the  Whitley  Report  would 
be  a  hazardous  experiment  indeed!  But  with 
partnership,  or  the  promise  of  partnership,  sub- 
stituted for  class  interest,  in  the  relationship  of 
Capital  and  Labor,  the  raison  d'etre  of  mihtancy  is 
gone.  A  new  and  wholly  different  motive  on  the 
part  of  all  the  parties  to  Industry  appears;  and 
with  it,  a  new  attitude. 

There  are  but  two  positions  possible  in  the  rela- 


468  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

tion  of  straight  lines  to  each  other.  They  may  be 
parallel  to  each  other,  or  they  may  point  toward 
each  other.  Where  they  point  toward  each  other, 
they  will,  if  projected  in  one  direction,  sooner  or 
later  intersect;  if  projected  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, they  will  become  farther  and  farther  apart. 
Where  parallel,  their  position  continues  indefinitely 
in  an  harmonious  relationship.  It  is  precisely  the 
same  with  the  vast  numbers  of  human  beings  who 
go  to  make  up  the  ranks  of  Capital  and  Labor. 
Attitude  in  human  relations  corresponds  to  posi- 
tion in  material  relations.  Labor  and  Capital  may 
assume  an  attitude  which  means  either  that  they 
will  ultimately  clash,  or  that  they  will  grow  farther 
and  farther  apart.  In  such  a  case,  they  can  render 
full  measure  of  service  neither  to  Industry  nor  to 
the  State.  The  only  enduring  attitude  is  one  which 
makes  possible  continuous  co-operation;  a  parallel 
outlook  inspired  by  Faith,  not  an  outlook  distorted 
by  Fear.  Such  an  attitude  is  necessarily  founded 
upon  recognition  of  mutual  rights  and  reciprocal 
obligations. 

To  bri  g  every  one  into  line,  organization  is  nec- 
essary. It  is  for  this  reason  the  Whitley  Committee 
emphasize  again  and  again  that  the  policy  they 
recommend  is  based  upon  organization  on  the  part 
of  both  employers  and  employed;  and  have  even 
gone  the  length  of  framing  machinery  whereby  in 
unorganized  sections  a  large  measure  of  Govern- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  469 

ment  assistance  can  be  made  available  to  encourage 
organization.^ 

It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  service  that 
may  be  rendered  by  Works  Committees  and  Joint 
Standing  Councils  in  the  adjustments  which  recon- 
struction will  render  necessary.  Indeed,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  imagine  how  reconstruction  in  Industry  is 
to  proceed  at  all  without  some  organization  which 
will  afford  a  basis  for  continuous  consultation  and 
co-operation  between  the  parties  to  Industry  as 

^  In  a  paragraph  which  they  repeat,  the  Whitley  Committee  say  it 
is  their  considered  opinion  "  that  ein  essential  condition  of  securing  a 
permanent  improvement  in  the  relations  between  employers  and  em- 
ployed is  that  there  should  be  adequate  organization  on  the  part  of 
both  employers  and  work-people.  The  proposals  outlined  for  joint 
co-operation  throughout  the  several  industries  depend  for  their  ulti- 
mate success  upon  there  being  such  organization  on  both  sides;  and 
such  organization  is  necessary  also  to  provide  means  whereby  the 
arrangements  and  agreements  made  for  the  industry  may  be  effec- 
tively carried  out."  Elsewhere  the  Committee  say:  "We  think  it 
important  to  state  that  the  success  of  the  Works  Committees  would 
be  very  seriously  interfered  with  if  the  idea  existed  that  such  commit- 
tees were  used,  or  likely  to  be  used,  by  employers  in  opposition  to 
Trade  Unionism."  Obviously,  having  regard  to  the  well-being  of 
Industry  as  a  whole,  opposition  of  the  kind  would  be  both  harmful 
and  stupid. 

It  has  been  represented  that  the  Industried  Representation  Plan 
of  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  was  aimed  against  trades 
unions.  Such  a  contention  has  surely  been  made  in  ignorance  of  a 
section  of  the  Plan  which  speciflcally  states  that  "there  shall  be  no 
discrimination  on  account  of  membership  or  non-membership  in 
labor  or  other  organizations,"  and  without  knowledge  of  the  fact  that 
ever  since  its  inception,  in  both  the  mining  camps  and  the  steel  works 
of  the  Company,  many  of  the  workmen's  representatives  have  been 
members  of  trades  unions,  and  some  of  them  ofliceholders  in  those 
organizations. 


470  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

respects  all  sections,  grades,  and  interests,  in  indi- 
vidual enterprises,  in  associated  industries,  and  in 
Industry  as  a  whole.  The  Government  of  Great 
Britain  has  announced  that  its  adoption  of  the 
Whitley  Report  is  an  invitation  to  the  industries  of 
the  country  to  organize  themselves  in  the  way  it 
suggests  for  their  own  benefit  and  the  benefit  of  the 
community. 

To  regularize  the  relations  between  employers 
and  employed  is  the  great  need.  It  cannot  be  met 
without  bringing  employers  and  work-people  to- 
gether. Joint  Councils  effect  this.  Standing  Coun- 
cils ensure  regular  meetings  for  discussion  of  mat- 
ters of  common  interest.  Industrial  Councils  throw 
into  relief  the  questions  that  concern  each  industry 
as  a  whole,  foster  a  common  feehng  for  the  indus- 
try, and  help  all  parties  to  realize  the  social  impor- 
tance of  the  industry  as  distinct  from  their  private 
interest.^  Regular  meetings  to  discuss  matters  of 
common  interest  are  calculated  to  produce  an  at- 
mosphere in  which  disputes,  when  they  arise,  can 
be  settled  by  an  appeal  to  reason.  The  subjects 
from  which  disputes  arise  come  up  for  discussion 
before  feeling  is  excited.  Mutual  misunderstanding 
and  unnecessary  suspicion  are  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum. Fear  is  replaced  by  Faith. 

There  is  another  urgent  need  which  joint  bodies 

*  Vide  circular  Ministry  of  Labor  re  Industrial  Councils,  H.  Q.  7  B., 
1918. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  471 

of  the  kind  serve.  In  meeting  this  need  they  give 
to  the  workers  in  their  respective  industries  a  status 
not  hitherto  enjoyed.  As  mentioned  repeatedly 
in  these  pages,  there  is  a  large  body  of  problems 
which  belong  both  to  Industry  and  to  Politics. 
"They  belong  to  politics  because  the  community  is 
responsible  for  their  solution  and  the  State  must 
act  if  no  other  provision  is  made;  they  belong  to 
Industry,  because  they  can  be  solved  only  by  the 
knowledge  and  experience  of  the  people  actually 
engaged  in  Industry."  Such  problems  are  the 
regularization  of  employment,  industrial  training, 
utilization  of  inventions,  industrial  research,  the 
improvement  of  design  and  quahty,  legislation  af- 
fecting workshop  conditions  —  all  of  them  ques- 
tions which  have  hitherto  been  left  in  the  main  to 
employers,  but  which  in  reaUty  constitute  an  im- 
portant common  interest  on  the  basis  of  which  all 
engaged  in  an  industry  can  meet.  The  termination 
of  the  War  will  bring  with  it  a  mass  of  new  prob- 
lems of  this  nature:  for  example,  demobilization, 
the  training  of  apprentices  whose  training  was  in- 
terrupted by  military  service,  the  settlement  in  In- 
dustry of  partially  disabled  men,  and  in  general  the 
reconversion  of  Industry  to  purposes  of  peace.  It 
is  urgently  necessary  that  on  all  these  questions 
Governments  should  be  able  to  obtain  without  de- 
lay the  experience  and  views  of  the  people  actually 
in  Industry.  Recognizing  this,  the  British  Govern- 


472  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

ment  has  wisely  decided  to  treat  Industrial  Coun- 
cils as  Standing  Consultative  Committees  to  the 
Government  and  the  normal  channel  through 
which  it  will  seek  the  experience  and  advice  of 
industries. 

Not  only  will  these  industrial  parliaments  out- 
line general  policy  over  a  wide  field  of  action;  they 
will  be  able  to  give  pubhc  utterance  to  the  views 
and  needs  of  each  industry,  in  its  relation  to  the 
whole  national  life.  In  the  words  of  the  Memoran- 
dum of  the  Garton  Foundation,  "They  will  take 
account  not  only  of  economic  but  of  moral  and  aes- 
thetic values.  Their  object  will  be  not  merely  to 
increase  the  productive  efficiency  of  the  industry 
and  to  reconcile  the  competing  interests  of  those 
engaged  in  it,  but  to  emphasize  the  worth  and  dig- 
nity of  industrial  life,  and  to  enlarge  the  scope 
offered  by  it  to  the  energies  and  ambitions  of  those 
concerned.  It  will  be  a  part  of  their  task  to  em- 
phasize the  close  connection  between  industrial 
questions  and  those  relating  to  education  and  social 
conditions."^ 

Could  there  be  more  definite  recognition  of  the 
four  parties  to  Industry:  Capital,  Management, 
Labor,  and  the  Community;  or  a  safer  beginning  in 
democratic  joint-control?  Where  problems  can  be 
handled  by  each  industry  for  itself,  through  an 
organization  representative  of  all  sections  and  in- 

^  Garton  Foundation  Memorandum,  par.  175. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  473 

terests  within  it,  a  large  amount  of  "Government 
interference,"  which  at  present  is  unavoidable,  will 
be  made  unnecessary,  and  for  it  will  be  substituted 
a  real  measure  of  "self-government"  in  Industry. 
Thus,  in  the  midst  of  war,  is  pariiamentary  govern- 
ment finding  its  beginnings  in  Industry !  In  accord- 
ance with  principles  underlying  judicial  and  parha- 
mentary  procedure,  the  new  Industrial  Revolution 
is  to  work  its  way.  The  methods  and  weapons  will 
be  those  of  argument  and  debate,  of  reason  and 
consent,  not  those  of  Force  and  its  attendant  evils. 

While  the  aim  of  the  Plan  of  Industrial  Repre- 
sentation in  Colorado  and  that  of  the  scheme  out- 
lined in  the  Whitley  Report  are  the  same,  there  is  a 
difference  in  the  place  of  beginning.  The  Whitley 
scheme  begins  at  the  top  with  Joint  Industrial  Coun- 
cils, and  works  down.  The  Colorado  Plan,  as  it 
stands,  does  not  extend  much  beyond  the  stage  of 
"the  Works  Committees"  outUned  in  the  Whitley 
scheme.  Of  these  bodies,  however,  the  Whitley 
Committee  say:  "We  look  upon  successful  Works 
Committees  as  the  broad  base  of  the  industrial 
structure  which  we  have  reconmiended." 

The  Colorado  Plan  was  framed  with  a  view  of 
exhibiting  a  structure  and  method  of  industrial 
government,  based  on  the  idea  of  representation; 
one  which  would  be  readily  adaptable  to  other  in- 
dustrial enterprises,  and  which,  in  the  course  of  a 


474  INDUSTRY  AND  HUAIANITY 

natural  evolution,  might  be  expected  to  extend  to 
industries  generally  and  to  Industry  as  a  whole. 

The  best  place  of  beginning  and  the  extent  to 
which  it  may  be  possible  to  work  through  Trades 
Unions  and  Employers'  Associations  are  necessarily 
a  matter  of  the  stage  of  development  in  organiza- 
tion of  Capital  and  of  Labor;  and  of  the  character 
of  organization  and  its  growth.  Perhaps  it  is  the 
part  of  wisdom  to  suggest  that,  as  concerns  indus- 
trial government,  there  is  a  difTerence  between  what 
is  possible  under  organization  as  it  exists  among 
workmen  of  hke  origin,  schooled  in  traditions  and 
methods  of  Trade-Unionism  as  found  in  long  estab- 
lished industries  and  trades,  and  what  is  possible 
under  the  kind  of  organization  sometimes  found  in 
recently  estabhshed  industries  among  worlanen  of 
diversified  nationalities,  many  of  whom  come  from 
countries  which  have  yet  to  learn  the  meaning  of 
political  freedom,  and  who  themselves  are  unable 
to  carry  on  conversation  in  a  common  tongue. 

Whether  in  the  long  run  greater  progress  in  the 
introduction  of  representative  government  into 
Industry  will  be  made  by  seeking  a  beginning,  as  in 
England  it  is  proposed,  with  National  Joint  Councils 
and  extending  down  to  "Works  Committees,"  than 
by  beginning  at  the  base  of  the  structure  and  es- 
tabhshing,  as  in  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Com- 
pany, carefully  devised  "Works  Committees"  and 
working  up  to  an  organization  which  will  have  re- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  475 

gard  for  Industry  as  a  whole,  will  depend,  in  part, 
on  the  industry  concerned,  and  on  the  number  and 
nearness  of  relationship  of  competing  enterprises; 
and,  in  part,  on  the  degree  of  self-government  of 
which  members  of  organizations  prove  themselves 
capable.  Where  existing  organization  of  Capital 
and  Labor  will  permit,  there  is  every  reason  why 
reconstruction  should  begin  at  the  top,  and  work 
down.  The  more  extensive  organization  is,  the 
greater  the  possibiUty  of  unpropitious  develop- 
ments if  the  attitude  of  opposing  organizations  is 
not  changed  from  one  of  militancy  into  one  of  effec- 
tive co-operation  in  the  creation  and  maintenance 
of  right  standards.  Where  organization  is  non- 
existent, or  is  of  questionable  character,  the  begin- 
ning in  individual  enterprises  had  better  be  made 
with  "Works  Committees."  It  must  always  be 
remembered  that  the  success  of  any  pohcy  of  the 
kind  will  depend  upon  the  elasticity  with  which  it 
can  be  adapted  to  existing  conditions,  and  to  prac- 
tical needs  and  opportunities  as  they  reveal  them- 
selves. 

The  place  of  beginning  on  either  continent,  in  any 
industry,  is  wholly  secondary  in  importance  to  the 
fact  that  on  both  continents,  and  in  all  kinds 
of  enterprises,  the  principle  of  representation  is 
being  accepted  as  the  basis  of  Government  in  In- 
dustry. This  must  ultimately  serve,  not  only  to 
unite  industrial  with  political  development,  but  to 


476  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

make  possible  a  union  of  industries  between  com- 
peting nations  on  lines  which  will  advance  effi- 
ciency in  production,  and  at  the  same  time  ensure  an 
ever-expanding  measure  of  international  good-will. 
Surely,  the  significance  of  this  cannot  be  made  too 
apparent!  A  principle  which,  widely  enough  ap- 
plied, should  end  industrial  unrest  and  also  inter- 
national strife  is  certainly  deserving  of  all  the  recog- 
nition it  can  receive;  and  its  application  is  worthy 
of  the  best  endeavor  of  two  continents. 

It  is  probable  that  the  structure  of  industrial 
government  will  assume  its  true  proportions  sooner 
in  England  than  in  America.  England  is  the  older 
and  much  the  smaller  country.  Some  of  its  institu- 
tions are  more  fully  developed.  It  has  not,  to  dis- 
tract it,  many  of  the  problems  inherent  in  a  popu- 
lation which  is  widely  scattered,  and  which  an 
American  author  has  described  as  constituting  "a 
mosaic  of  races  and  tongues."  Moreover,  in  Eng- 
land, more  than  in  America,  the  parties  to  In- 
dustry are  likely  to  look  to  themselves  rather  than 
to  Government.  The  vast  State  Control  the  War 
has  induced  is  shaping  the  temper  of  the  English 
mind  for  a  reaction  against  excessive  State  Con- 
trol when  the  War  is  over.  To  meet  this  reaction, 
to  save  the  nation  from  its  ill-effects,  the  policy 
of  leaving  to  the  parties  in  interest  the  manage- 
ment of  their  own  affairs,  subject  always  to  the  in- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  477 

herent  over-control  of  the  State,  has  come  none 
too  soon.  Joint  Standing  Industrial  Councils  and 
Works  Committees  should  prove  the  place  of  rec- 
oncihation  for  conflicting  interests.  ^ 

In  America,  it  will  not  be  so  easy  to  meet  the 
adverse  effects  of  the  operation  of  the  Law  of  Com- 
peting Standards  by  mutual  aid,  voluntarily  en- 
tered upon  by  the  parties  to  Industry.  A  measure 
of  State  control  will  be  required  to  effect  general 
recognition  of  the  significance  of  "Works  Commit- 
tees." It  would  seem  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  was  fully  aware  of  this.  Already,  the 
National  War  Labor  Board  ^  has  intimated  that  it 
will  lend  its  good  offices  to  assist  industrial  corpora- 
tions in  the  formation  of  committees  representative 

*  It  would  be  inappropriate  to  conclude  reference  to  the  scheme  of 
Joint  Standing  Industrial  Councils  contained  in  the  Whitley  Report 
without  notice  of  a  Memorandum,  on  Industrial  Self-Government  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Malcolm  Sparkes  in  January,  191 7,  to  the  Reconstruc- 
tion  Committee.     Mr.   Sparkes's   Memorandum  contains  a  draft 
scheme  for  a  Builders'  National  Industrial  Peu'liament,  and  recom- 
mends the  formation  of  Joint  Industrial  Parliaments  comprised  of 
representatives  of  employers  and  employed  for  each  of  the  great 
staple  industries.   The  inception  of  the  scheme  was  entirely  due  to 
Mr.  Sparkes,  who  for  many  years  was  himself  an  employer  in  the 
Building  Trades.    The  formulation  and  organization  of  the  scheme 
was  done  under  the  auspices  of  the  Garton  Foundation.   In  the  case 
of  the  Building  Trades,  the  scheme  was  first  accepted  by  the  work- 
men and  formally  proposed  by  them  to  the  employers  for  accept-  \ 
ance.  Subsequently,  the  scheme  was  accepted  by  the  employers  at  a     j 
joint  conference  of  the  Associated  Trades  Unions  and  the  Employers'    / 
Federation,  and  the  organization  of  a  Joint  Standing  National  Build-  / 
ing  Trades  Parliament  has  since  gone  forward. 

2  Vide  reference  to  National  War  Labor  Board,  chap.  vn.    Prin-      . 
ciples  Underlying  Peace.  v  /. 


478  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

of  management  and  employees.  Where  such  Com- 
mittees exist,  and  develop  means  for  adjusting  con- 
troversies as  they  arise,  the  Board's  pohcy  is  to 
refuse  to  take  cognizance  of  controversies  between 
employers  and  workers  until  the  means  of  settle- 
ment provided  have  been  invoked.  In  this  manner 
emphasis  is  given  to  the  desirabihty  of  joint  agree- 
ment by  the  parties  themselves. 

The  principles  and  pohcies  laid  down  by  the 
National  War  Labor  Board  to  govern  relations  be- 
tween workers  and  employers  in  War  industries  for 
the  duration  of  the  War,  and  to  be  observed  by  the 
Board  itself  in  the  exercise  of  its  powers  and  func- 
tions, are  intended  to  assist  the  Government  in 
meeting  problems  to  which  competing  standards 
in  Industry  give  rise,  and  to  further  the  universal 
enforcement  of  standards.  The  principles  include 
definite  pronouncement  upon  such  fruitful  sources 
of  friction  as  the  right  to  organize,  the  right  to  bar- 
gain collectively  through  chosen  representatives, 
the  right  to  a  living  wage,  the  estabhshment  of 
minimum  rates  of  pay,  equal  pay  for  equal  work 
by  women,  the  consideration  of  welfare,  health, 
and  proper  comfort  in  the  fixation  of  hours  of  labor, 
and  the  maintenance  of  a  maximum  production. 
In  this  manner  the  enforcement  of  standards  is 
being  brought  about  through  the  machinery  of 
Government,  under  methods  which,  in  the  absence 
of  estabUshed  practices  in  individual  enterprises, 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  479 

leave  little  in  the  way  of  option  to  any  of  the 
parties. 

The  formation  of  Works  Committees,  and  of 
District  and  National  Joint  Standing  Industrial 
Councils,  is  proceeding  steadily  in  the  United 
Kingdom  under  the  segis  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor. 
There  is  reason  to  beheve  that  in  the  not  distant 
future  joint  councils  will  form  a  dominant  feature 
of  British  industrial  polity.  The  movement  is  not 
without  its  critics  among  both  employers  and  labor 
leaders,  and  it  encounters  of  necessity  the  opposi- 
tion of  upholders  of  mihtancy  in  industrial  affairs 
and  the  advocates  of  class  hatreds.  It  will  reveal 
shortcomings,  make  mistakes,  experience  setbacks 
and  failures;  and  it  is  probable  that  some  time 
must  elapse  before  its  benefits  will  be  appreciated. 
"The  change  of  attitude  involved  is  too  vital,  the 
field  of  activity  is  too  large,  to  hope  for  any  but 
gradual  development."  But  the  scheme  has  in  it 
the  germ  of  all  that  has  made  for  freedom  in  pohti- 
cal  evolution;  and  it  has  to  promote  it  the  genius 
for  self-government  which  the  British  peoples  have 
evolved  through  centuries  of  struggle.  It  is  there- 
fore destined  to  win  its  way.  Meanwhile,  it  will 
remain  the  surest  method  of  approach  to  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problems  of  Industry  which  wide  knowl- 
edge of  actual  conditions,  combined  with  many- 
sided  opinion,  has  thus  far  evolved.  ^ 

*  A  further  word  on  the  Colorado  Plan  may  be  permissible.  Stand- 


480  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

IV 

Education  has  been  far  too  generally  restricted 
to  mean  a  schooling  in  a  few  elementary  subjects 
essential  to  the  gaining  of  a  livelihood.  It  has  been 
commended  because  commercially  profitable.  Too 
often,  so-called  higher  education  has  meant  only 
the  knowledge  which  will  command  higher  rates  of 
remuneration.  The  emphasis  has  been  upon  ma- 
terial considerations,  rather  than  upon  Ufe  as  spir- 
itually interpreted.  Education  ought  to  be  valued 
chiefly  as  enabling  human  beings  to  realize  their 
highest  capacities,  and  to  serve  and  conserve, 
rather  than  to  dominate  and  destroy.  Education 
requires  to  be  so  fashioned  as  to  be  of  practical 

ing  by  itself,  this  scheme  of  representation,  this  attempt  at  co-opera- 
tion between  Management  and  Labor,  may  have  seemed  to  some  an 
isolated  and  passing  experiment.  The  support  of  such  high  authority 
as  that  cited  seems  to  hght  it  up  with  a  certain  dramatic  reality,  and 
to  give  to  its  structure  and  underlying  principles  new  significance  in 
their  bearing  upon  the  future  of  American  industrial  relations.  Al- 
ready the  essential  features  of  the  Plan  are  being  adopted  by  other 
important  industries. 

The  reader  is  referred  to  the  Appendix  for  a  diagram  illustrative  of 
the  Colorado  Plan.  A  perusal  of  the  Plan  will  show  with  what  ease 
its  general  structure  could  be  made  apphcable  to  any  number  of  in- 
dustrial enterprises  in  a  single  industry,  or  to  industries  as  a  whole. 
The  substitution  of  representatives  of  Employers'  Associations  and 
of  Trades  Unions  for  the  representation  of  the  management  and  em- 
ployees respectively  as  described  in  the  Plan,  would  give  for  industries 
as  a  whole  precisely  what  the  Whitley  Report  suggests  as  the  kind 
of  structure  necessary  in  the  organization  of  District  and  National 
Joint  Standing  Councils;  or  what  would  appear  as  the  necessary 
structure  of  National  Industrial  ParUaments,  as  proposed  by  Mr. 
Malcolm  Sparkes. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  481 

advantage  in  manhood  and  citizenship.  It  should 
teach  men  and  women  how  to  Hve  completely,  how 
to  recognize  and  observe  duties  as  well  as  rights. 
It  should  inspire  the  community  sense  and  teach 
the  art  of  co-operation. 

The  Community  point  of  view  is  gradually  com- 
ing to  the  fore.  The  popular  conception  of  Educa- 
tion is  enlarging  so  as  to  include  a  knowledge  of 
matters  pertaining  to  health,  such  as  physical  and 
mental  hygiene,  sanitation,  housing  and  recreation, 
and  a  training  for  vocations  and  trades.  The  inter- 
relation of  health  and  efficiency  is  becoming  more 
apparent.  It  is  seen  that  the  physically  and  men- 
tally sound  not  only  have  chances  in  the  competi- 
tive arena  that  their  weaker  brethren  never  have, 
but  that  they  also  have  a  keener  enjoyment  of  life. 
The  skilled  mechanic,  the  specially  trained  indi- 
vidual, possesses  the  technical  equipment  which 
ensures  larger  rewards  for  work  done;  he  has  also 
the  knowledge  which  adds  to  the  capacity  for  en- 
joyment in  the  discharge  of  duties.  It  was  this 
broad  conception  of  Education  Lord  Haldane  had 
in  mind  when  he  urged  that  Education  was  "the 
foundation  of  all  industrial  reconstruction,  of  all 
social  reform,  and  of  all  democracy." 

As  the  recognized  basis  of  industrial  efficiency 
and  social  well-being.  Education  in  matters  per- 
taining to  health  and  vocation  bids  fair  to  become 
an  integral  part  of  conventionally  accepted  Educa- 


482  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

tion,  and  voluntary  effort  to  be  more  and  more 
supplemented  by  community  regulation  and  con- 
trol. Just  as  Education  in  its  more  common  aspects 
was  found  to  be  insufficient  when  left  to  voluntary 
effort,  so,  too,  Education  as  respects  social  hygiene, 
sanitation,  preventable  diseases,  industrial  and 
vocational  training  and  the  like,  will  come  more 
and  more  to  be  regarded  as  a  matter  of  community 
obligation  arising  from  community  need.  Indus- 
trial progress  and  community  well-being  are  ahke 
dependent  upon  "the  appUcation  of  a  trained  intel- 
ligence to  the  practical  affairs  of  life." 

With  the  growth  of  democracy,  there  is  need  of 
Education  to  teach  the  right  use  of  power.  With 
the  growth  of  communities,  handicapped  by  prob- 
lems of  poverty  and  intemperance,  and  continually 
menaced  by  contagion  and  infection,  there  is  equal 
need  to  teach  the  rudiments  of  health.  In  pohtical 
democracies,  it  is  essential  to  guard  against  iUit- 
eracy,  and  to  secure  to  every  child  a  minimum  of 
education.  In  industrial  democracies,  under  condi- 
tions where  specialization  in  Industry  and  depend- 
ence of  workers  upon  machinery  create  problems 
of  unemployment,  there  is  like  necessity  to  train 
the  hand  and  mind  for  specific  vocations. 

To  each  individual  there  belongs  some  share  of 
responsibility  for  conditions  as  they  are,  a  rcspon- 
sibihty  in  direct  proportion  to  individual  influence. 
Especially  is  there  a  duty  upon  all  who  have  to  do 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  483 

with  Government,  Education,  and  the  moulding 
of  Opinion,  to  see  that  right  ideas  are  made  to  pre- 
vail. In  matters  of  Government,  this  responsibility 
is  shared  by  the  elector,  the  representative,  and  the 
administrator,  and  apphes  to  all  that  pertains  to 
the  franchise,  the  form  and  method  of  government, 
and  public  policies.  In  matters  of  Education,  re- 
sponsibihty  is  not  restricted  to  those  who  determine 
national  systems  of  education  or  who  instruct  in 
universities  and  schools;  it  extends  to  the  home 
and  the  ethical  standards  exemplified  in  family 
hfe.  In  the  shaping  of  Opinion,  the  journahst,  the 
author,  the  pubhc  speaker,  indeed  whoever  pos- 
sesses capacity  to  think  and  ability  to  express  his 
thoughts,  has  a  duty  to  assist  in  the  spread  of  ideas 
which  may  inspire  a  right  attitude  in  Industry  and 
improve  the  conditions  under  which  men  and  wo- 
men earn  their  daily  bread. 

There  is  a  special  responsibility  upon  consumers, 
as  members  of  the  Community,  to  see  that  fair  and 
just  standards  are  maintained  in  Industry.  Con- 
sumers need  to  be  educated  to  this  responsibihty. 
Purchasing  power  is  not  a  power  Umited  to  obtain- 
ing commodities;  it  is  power  which  extends  to  con- 
trolling conditions  under  which  commodities  are 
produced  and  services  rendered.  The  utiUzation 
of  the  power  of  the  consumer  to  affect  sanitary 
and  other  working  conditions  is  the  most  effective 
of  all  instrumentalities  for  enforcing   standards 


484  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

throughout  an  industry.  Capital,  Management, 
and  Labor  are  helpless  to  ensure  equality  of  mini- 
mum standards  without  the  aid  of  the  Community. 
Where  consumers  extend  their  patronage  to  un- 
scrupulous competitors,  a  handicap  is  immediately 
placed  upon  those  who  are  interested  in  preserv- 
ing peace  in  Industry  and  securing  the  welfare  of 
working  people.  Consumers'  Leagues  have  already 
demonstrated  the  service  which  voluntary  effort 
may  render  in  obtaining  a  guarantee  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  articles  are  produced.  It  would 
appear  that  in  no  other  way  could  the  Community, 
as  a  partner  in  Industry,  exert  its  control  so  efTec- 
tively  as  by  extending  the  principle  of  certification 
to  the  adoption  of  some  device  which  would  serve 
as  a  pubhc  guarantee  of  adequate  labor  standards. 
Such  an  extension  would  be  a  protection  not  less  of 
the  Community  itself  than  of  Labor.  ^ 

If  undermining  influences  occasioned  by  neglect 
and  misfortune,  whether  of  character  or  of  calhng, 
are  to  be  counteracted.  Education,  in  the  broadest 
acceptation  of  the  tenn  —  physical,  mental,  and 
moral  —  cannot  be  too  widely  dilYused.  Moreover, 
if  men  and  women  are  to  live  together  as  citizens  of 
enlightened  communities,  they  must  have  intelli- 
gent and  varied  interests.  Because  men  and  women 
are  human  beings  and  not  machines,  they  require 

^  Vide  Cohen,  Law  and  Order  in  Industry,  chapter  xx,  "  The  White 
Protocol  Label." 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  485 

leisure;  and  require  Education  to  teach  them  the 
right  use  of  leisure.  There  must  bo  free  hours,  and 
the  scope  of  enjoyment  of  free  hours  should  be  wid- 
ened by  stimulating  interest  in  new  fields.  To  create 
standards  of  character,  not  less  than  Labor  stand- 
ards, and  to  have  them  also  adopted  in  ever-widen- 
ing circles,  is  essential  to  democracy.  This  may 
demand,  in  a  material  and  commercial  age,  the 
entire  reconstruction  of  many  an  educational  pro- 
gramme. It  will  certainly  require  that  men  and 
women,  however  humble  or  impoverished,  be  re- 
garded as  beings  capable  of  exalted  sentiments  and 
noble  dehghts,  and  not  as  mere  means  to  the  ends 
of  others  in  a  struggle  for  industrial  supremacy. 

Education  in  health  and  character  is  the  best 
insurance  against  the  hazards  of  industrial  life,  and 
the  surest  guarantee  of  its  rewards.  It  begins  with 
the  relations  between  parent  and  child.  It  imphes 
education  in  the  home,  as  well  as  by  the  State;  and 
means  training  with  respect  to  habits  as  well  as 
with  regard  to  occupations.  Character  is  the  de- 
termining factor  in  all  things.  An  inner  sustaining 
motive  is  more  necessary  than  external  support  if, 
across  the  reaches  of  Time,  the  spirit  of  workers 
in  Industry  is  not  to  flag.  A  pure  faith,  such  as 
seems  to  have  fled  the  world,  is  the  final  element 
of  a  firm  endurance  through  [years  of  arduous  and 
sustained  toil. 


486  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Education  should  enable  us  to  go  on  to  new 
points  of  insight  into  other  lives,  and  into  the 
depths  of  our  own  lives.  It  should  beget  sympathy 
^vith  all  human  Ufe,  and  afford  glimpses  of  "the 
vast  world  of  inner  hfe  beyond  us,  so  different  from 
that  of  outer  seeming."  Above  all,  it  should  teach 
us  our  duty  to  our  neighbor,  and  to  know  him  as  a 
part  of  ourselves.  To  lighten  our  darkness  is  the 
end  of  all  Education. 

William  James  has  given  us  the  underlying  cause 
of  industrial  and  international  unrest. ^  Let  him 
disclose  something  of  the  sympathy  whereby  our 
human  blindness  is  to  be  re;moved.  We  shall  need 
our  vision  of  the  heroic  in  days  of  reconstruction. 
His  words  may  help  to  unite  in  a  true  perspective 
the  sacrifices  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field  and  the 
patient  service  of  all  who  toil: 

"Not  in  clanging  fights  and  desperate  marches 
only  is  heroism  to  be  looked  for,  but  on  every  rail- 
way bridge  and  fire-proof  building  that  is  going  up 
to-day.  On  freight-trains,  on  the  decks  of  vessels, 
in  cattle-yards  and  mines,  on  lumber-rafts,  among 
the  firemen  and  the  policemen,  the  demand  for 
courage  is  incessant;  and  the  supply  never  fails. 
There,  every  day  of  the  year  somewhere,  is  human 
nature  in  extremis  for  you.  And  wherever  a  scythe, 
an  axe,  a  pick,  or  a  shovel  is  wielded,  you  have  it 
sweating  and  aching  and  with  its  powers  of  patient 
endurance  racked  to  the  utmost  under  the  length 
of  hours  of  the  strain. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  487 

*'As  I  awoke  to  all  this  unidealized  heroic  life 
around  me,  the  scales  seemed  to  fall  from  my  eyes; 
and  a  wave  of  sympathy  greater  than  anything  I 
had  ever  before  felt  with  the  common  life  of  com- 
mon men  began  to  fill  my  soul.  It  began  to  seem  as 
if  virtue  with  horny  hands  and  dirty  skin  were  the 
only  virtue  genuine  and  vital  enough  to  take  ac- 
count of.  Every  other  virtue  poses;  none  is  abso- 
lutely unconscious  and  simple,  and  unexpectant  of 
decoration  or  recognition,  like  this.  These  are  our 
soldiers,  thought  I,  these  our  sustainers,  these  the 
very  parents  of  our  life.  .  .  . 

"In  God's  eyes  the  differences  of  social  position, 
of  intellect,  of  culture,  of  cleanhness,  of  dress, 
which  different  men  exhibit,  and  all  the  other  rari- 
ties and  exceptions  on  which  they  so  fantastically 
pin  their  pride,  must  be  so  small  as  practically 
quite  to  vanish;  and  all  that  should  remain  is  the 
common  fact  that  here  we  are,  a  countless  multi- 
tude of  vessels  of  Hfe,  each  of  us  pent  in  to  peculiar 
difficulties,  with  which  we  must  severally  struggle 
by  using  whatever  of  fortitude  and  goodness  we 
can  summon  up.  The  exercise  of  the  courage,  pa- 
tience, and  kindness,  must  be  the  significant  por- 
tion of  the  whole  business;  and  the  distinctions  of 
position  can  only  be  a  manner  of  diversifying  the 
phenomenal  surface  upon  which  these  underground 
virtues  may  manifest  their  effects.  At  this  rate,  the 
deepest  human  fife  is  everywhere,  is  eternal.  And, 
if  any  human  attributes  exist  only  in  particular  in- 
dividuals, they  must  belong  to  the  mere  trapping 
and  decoration  of  the  surface-show. 

"Thus  are  men's  lives  levelled  up  as  weU  as  lev- 
elled down,  —  levelled  up  in  their  common  inner 
meaning,  levelled  down  in  their  outer  gloriousness 
and  show."  ^ 

/  Talks  lo  Teachers,  etc.,  pp.  274-78. 


488  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

In  ways  undreamed  of,  individuals  and  institu- 
tions may  play  their  part  in  the  solution  of  indus- 
trial and  international  problems.  For  example,  if 
women  and  if  the  Church  could  but  reahze  and 
be  true  to  their  special  opportunities  of  service 
to  the  world,  the  vast  problems  of  Industry  and 
of  the  State  would  soon  be  solved.  Except  to 
shield  them,  men  have  no  desire  to  circumscribe 
their  activities.  Men  understand  the  fields  of 
sacred  influence  which  are  pecuharly  theirs,  and, 
amid  the  strife  of  the  world,  look  for  sustained 
inspiration  to  a  devout  womanhood  and  a  con- 
secrated Church.  It  is  from  the  reverence  for 
life  which  men  get  from  their  mothers,  and  from 
the  faith  which  a  rehgion  pure  and  undefiled  im- 
parts, that  there  comes  the  spirit  of  mutual  aid 
through  which  the  material  interests  of  the  world 
make  way  for  the  nobler  aspirations  of  the  soul. 
"The  main  reason,"  says  Dr.  Eliot,  "that  Chris- 
tian society  is  slowly  proving  stronger  than  any 
other  is  that  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Jesus 
were  love  to  God  and  the  neiglibor,  and  the  broth- 
erhood of  man."  "It  is  time,"  he  adds,  "to  apply 
these  doctrines  thoroughly  to  modern  industrial 
relations.  That  is  the  sure  road  to  industrial  peace 
and  order  in  democracies.^ 

The  teachings  of  Jesus  bring  us  into  direct  oppo- 
sition to  the  doctrine  of  Force.  What  He  left  the 

*  Boston  Sunday  Herald,  July  21,  1918. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  '  489 

world  of  His  method  of  the  settlement  of  contro- 
versy and  removal  of  injustice,  is  simply  told  in 
three  consecutive  sentences  as  recorded  in  the 
eighteenth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  according  to 
Matthew: 

V.  15 :  "  If  thy  brother  shall  trespass  against  thee, 
go  and  tell  him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him 
alone:  if  he  hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained  thy 
brother." 

That  is  the  method  of  Concihation  and  Mediation. 

V.  16:  "But  if  he  will  not  hear  thee,  then  take 
with  thee  one  or  two  more,  that  in  the  mouth  of 
two  or  three  witnesses  every  word  may  be  estab- 
lished." 

That  is  the  method  of  Investigation  and  Arbitra- 
tion. 

V.  17:  "And  if  he  shall  neglect  to  hear  them,  tell 
it  unto  the  Church :  but  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the 
Church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  an  heathen  man 
and  a  publican." 

That  is  the  method  of  reliance  upon  an  informed 
Public  Opinion,  and  upon  the  power  of  the  Com- 
munity to  ostracize  where  a  wrong  is  done  its  sense 
of  justice. 

These  words  lose  none  of  their  significance  by  the 
sentence  which  precedes  them: 

V.  14:  "Even  so  it  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven,  that  one  of  these  Uttle  ones 
should  perish." 


490  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Force  or  Consent :  these  are  the  alternative  sanc- 
tions in  all  matters  pertaining  to  Law  and  Govern- 
ment. The  democracies  of  the  world  have  chosen 
government  by  Consent.  Prussianism,  when  it  in- 
vaded Belgium  and  set  out  to  conquer  the  world, 
staked  its  all  on  Force.  That  is  why  the  upholders 
of  these  opposing  doctrines  are  locked  in  mortal 
combat,  and  why  the  champions  of  Force  must  be 
overborne,  if  the  world,  as  has  been  said,  is  to  be 
made  safe  for  Democracy.  There  can  be  no  genuine 
democracy  where  the  doctrine  of  Force  prevails; 
neither  can  there  be  a  Christian  civilization. 


The  War  has  revealed  the  hideousness  of  Force 
and  the  anguish  its  use  may  bring  to  an  entire 
world.  Are  the  fundamental  lessons  of  the  War  to 
be  taken  to  heart,  or,  as  respects  the  problems  of 
Industry,  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  world's  young  life 
to  have  been  in  vain?  Are  the  false  and  cruel  meth- 
ods which  have  occasioned  war  to  be  repeated  in 
an  endless  series  of  intermittent  conflicts  between 
Capital  and  Labor?  Let  there  be  no  mistake.  The 
method  of  the  strike  and  the  lockout  is  not  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  method  of  Force.  Both  are 
demonstrations  of  Might.  Violence,  in  one  form  or 
another,  by  one  party  or  the  other,  is  in  most  in- 
stances an  inevitable  accompaniment.   All  indus- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  491 

trial  strife  is  a  form  of  anarchy.  It  is  a  method  no 
longer  required  in  countries  whose  governments 
have  made  adequate  provision  for  the  investiga- 
tion of  injustice  in  Industry;  at  least,  until  the 
method  of  investigation  has  been  tried  and  fails  to 
reveal  its  merits. 

Investigation  gives  to  the  worker,  where  his 
claims  are  just,  a  better  chance  of  redress  than 
striking  alTords.  Investigation  leads  to  a  study  of 
conditions  which  are  fundamental.  The  effort  to 
conquer  by  force  diverts  attention  to  other  con- 
siderations, such  as  the  relative  strength  of  the 
parties  and  the  chances  of  success  or  failure  in 
conflict.  Striking  weakens  the  worker's  economic 
position  by  depriving  him  of  wages  and  reducing 
him  daily  nearer  a  minimum  of  subsistence.  In- 
vestigation enables  him  to  sustain  his  economic 
position  and  at  the  same  time  to  secure  justice  in  a 
manner  which  works  no  injury  to  third  parties. 
"Justice,"  said  Edmund  Burke,  "is  the  common 
concern  of  mankind."  Injustice  will  not  neces- 
sarily be  remedied  by  force.  Investigation,  if  it 
reveals  injustice,  is  irresistible.  It  can  marshal  to 
its  support  an  informed  public  opinion  and  the 
agencies  that  create  it,  which  in  the  use  of  force  are 
antagonized  rather  than  made  sympathetic.  There 
can  be  no  interference  with  real  liberty  in  a  measure 
which  protects  society  and  at  the  same  time  pro- 
tects the  individual  who  beheves  himself  to  be 


492  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

wronged.  The  prohibition  of  a  strike  pending  in- 
quiry merely  says  to  the  worker:  "You  shall  not 
use  the  economic  power  involved  in  quitting  in 
concert  as  a  weapon  to  coerce  employers  to  yield 
demands,  so  long  as  that  method  of  securing  your 
purpose  is  unnecessary  in  the  first  place,  and  is  con- 
trary to  the  pubhc  welfare."  ^  When  it  is  known 
that  most  of  the  serious  industrial  conflicts  would 
never  have  taken  place  if  prior  to  their  outbreak 
there  had  been  investigation  of  the  differences 
between  the  parties,  or  even  statutory  authority  to 
compel  investigation,  is  it  not  inviting  disaster  for 
countries  to  remain  indifferent  to  like  recurrences, 
so  long  as  anywhere  in  the  world  measures  exist 
which,  given  a  fair  trial,  are  capable  of  avoiding 
such  catastrophes? 

Strikes  and  lockouts  do  not  help  to  make  the 
world  safe  for  Democracy.  Viewed  from  the  stand- 
point of  democracy,  what  are  they  but  "a  combi- 
nation by  men  not  elected  by  the  people  and  not 
accountable  to  the  people,  to  prevent  other  citizens 
from  exercising  their  rights"? ^  Where  there  are 
tribunals  with  adequate  powers  to  do  justice, 
strikes  or  lockouts  in  defiance  of  their  existence  are 

*  Thomas  T.   Parkinson,   Constitutional    Aspects   of   Compulsory 
Arbitration,  Proceedings,  Acad.  Pol.  Sc,  vol.  vii,  no.  i,  p.  65. 
j    2  Everett  P.  Wheeler,  Discussion  of  Trades  Unions  and  Compulsory 
Arbitration,  Proceedings,  Acad.  Pol.  Sc,  vol.  vii,  no.  i  (January,  1917), 
p.  84. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  493 

violations  of  fundamental  rights.  To  shut  off  sup- 
phes  of  food  and  coal,  by  means  of  a  strike,  is 
equivalent  to  a  forcible  blockade,  which  may  result 
in  starvation. 

In  disputes  which  adversely  affect  communities, 
the  position  of  the  pubhc  is  very  similar  to  that  of 
neutral  nations  whose  legitimate  interests  are  af- 
fected by  other  nations  engaged  in  war.  A  neu- 
tral may  come  to  suffer  as  much  as  a  belligerent. 
Tragic  experience  has  caused  this  to  be  recognized 
in  international  affairs,  and  the  avoidance  of  war 
is  now  looked  upon  as  the  common  concern  of  all 
countries.  The  avoidance  of  industrial  war  is  not 
less  the  common  concern  of  all  communities.  Even 
industrial  disputes  may  become  matters  of  grave 
international  concern.  The  strike  of  seamen  in 
1911  was  international.  It  involved  600,000  men, 
18  countries,  and  300  harbors  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica. Strikes  upon  the  railways  and  in  the  coal  fields 
of  America  and  Britain  have  affected  industrial 
and  social  conditions  in  other  lands. 

If  the  recent  past  has  revealed  the  frightful  con- 
sequences  of  industrial  strife,  do  not  present  devel- 
opments all  over  the  world  afford  indications  of 
possibilities  infinitely  worse?  Syndicahsm  aims  at 
the  destruction  by  force  of  existing  organization, 
and  the  transfer  of  industrial  capital  from  present 
possessors  to  syndicates  or  revolutionary  trades 
unions.  This  it  seeks  to  accomplish  by  the  "general 


494  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

strike."  What  might  not  happen,  in  America  or  in 
England,  if  upon  a  few  days'  or  a  few  weeks'  notice/ 
the  coal  mines  were  suddenly  to  shut  down,  and  the 
railways  to  stop  running!  Suppose,  for  example, 
that  in  Great  Britain,  all  the  men  who  belong  to  the 
Railway  Employees'  Unions,  the  Transport  Work- 
ers' Union,  and  the  Coal  Operatives'  Union  were 
to  act  in  concert  and  cease  operations  for  the  space 
of  two  or  three  days,  to  say  nothing  of  a  longer 
period!  Is  this  a  possibility  so  remote  as  not  to 
be  worth  considering?  These  organizations  are  all 
part  of  one  Federation  which  at  any  moment  may 
act  under  instructions  from  a  single  Board.  Here 
is  power  which,  once  exercised,  would  paralyze  the 
British  nation  more  effectively  than  any  blockade 
in  time  of  war. 

Fortunately,  these  great  organizations  have  had, 
for  the  most  part,  able  and  patriotic  officers.  But 
the  best  of  leaders  are  not  always  able  to  control. 
Europe  and  America  have  had  numerous  instances 
of  industrial  conflicts  due  to  the  inabihty  of  leaders 
to  command  their  followings.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  an  interesting  and  suggestive  fact,  as  one  with 
experience  in  labor  matters  has  pointed  out,  that 
opposition  to  government  mediation  is  stronger 
among  union  leaders  than  among  their  followers. 
"Strikes,"  says  Dr.  Victor  Clark,  "are  hke  wars; 
they  open  opportunities  for  prominence  and  dis- 
tinction to  the  officers  who  lead  them,  but  only 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  495 

hardship  and  suffering  to  the  rank  and  file  who 
fight  them."  ^ 

Where  there  are  "conditions  that  prompt  irre- 
sponsible men  to  impulsive  action,"  either  on  the 
part  of  leaders  or  on  the  part  of  the  rank  and  file, 
a  measure  that  acts  as  a  check  upon  hasty  and  ill- 
conceived  action  is  surely  not  less  in  the  interests  of 
Labor  itself  than  in  the  interests  of  the  community 
at  large.  Investigation  prior  to  severance  of  indus- 
trial relations  is  an  effort  by  the  community  to  pro- 
tect itself  against  the  anti-social  consequences  of 
open  warfare.  The  community,  as  one  of  the  part- 
ners in  Industry,  has  a  right  to  this  protection. 

In  1907  the  Parhament  of  Canada  enacted  what 
is  known  as  The  Industrial  Disputes  Investigation 
Act.  That  measure  apphes  to  Industry  the  princi- 
ple of  investigation  prior  to  a  lockout  or  strike.  It 
is  founded  upon  the  idea  of  introducing  into  In- 
dustry a  system  of  adjusting  industrial  differen- 
ces based  on  principles  of  law  and  order.  It  takes 
away  no  right  of  strike  or  lockout  from  the  parties 
to  industrial  disputes.  With  respect  to  agencies 
of  transportation  and  communication,  mines,  and 
industries  in  the  nature  of  pubhc  utihties,  it  merely 
postpones  the  exercise  of  the  right  until  there  has 
been  an  investigation  at  the  pubhc  expense.  These 

1  The  Canadian  Industrial  Disputes  Act,  Proceedings,  Acad.  Pol. 
Sc.,  vol.  VII,  no.  I,  p.  i8. 


496  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

are  industries  upon  the  uninterrupted  operation  of 
which  the  well-being  of  other  industries  and  the 
Community  largely  depends.  Upon  consent  of  the 
parties,  the  provisions  of  the  Act  may  be  made 
applicable  to  any  industrial  dispute  involving  an 
appreciable  number  of  persons. 

The  Act  establishes  a  procedure  to  which  men 
have  become  accustomed  in  judicial  and  parliamen- 
tary processes.  It  gives  to  the  parties  to  industrial 
controversies  the  right  to  appeal  before  a  recog- 
nized public  tribunal  in  order  to  have  the  merits  of 
respective  positions  or  contentions  examined  into 
in  an  orderly  method.  Boards  may  be  estabhshed 
at  the  instance  of  either  workers  or  employers, 
wherever  a  dispute  arises  which  threatens  a  lockout 
or  strike.  Each  of  the  parties  concerned  is  entitled 
to  name  one  member  of  a  Board.  The  third  mem- 
ber, who  becomes  the  Chairman,  is  selected  by  the 
two  members  named,  or,  failing  selection  in  this 
way,  is  appointed  by  the  Government.  Thus  con- 
stituted, each  Board  has  all  the  powers  of  a  Court. 
It  may  summon  witnesses,  take  evidence  upon 
oath,  compel  the  production  of  documents,  inspect 
premises,  or  adopt  any  method  of  getting  at  facts 
which  appears  to  be  necessary  to  a  full  understand- 
ing of  the  matter  in  dispute.  The  parties  are  en- 
titled to  be  represented  before  the  Board  in  person, 
or  by  any  persons  of  their  own  choosing.  All  ex- 
penses incidental  to  the  inquiry,  including  allow- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  497 

ances  to  members  of  the  Board  for  their  services, 
fees  to  witnesses  for  attendance,  remuneration  of 
experts  and  the  Hke,  are  paid  out  of  the  pubUc 
treasury.  No  obhgation  is  imposed  upon  the  par- 
ties except  to  refrain  from  severing  their  relations 
until  the  Board  has  had  opportunity  of  fully  inves- 
tigating the  matter  in  dispute,  and  making  pubhc 
its  findings  in  reference  thereto. 

If  in  the  course  of  an  inquiry  concihatory  efforts 
on  the  part  of  a  Board  fail  to  effect  an  adjustment 
of  the  difference,  or  if  the  findings  of  a  Board  do 
not  prove  acceptable  to  either  of  the  parties,  and 
a  settlement  on  lines  recommended  cannot  be 
reached,  either  party  is  then  free  to  take  such  ac- 
tion as  in  the  circumstances  it  beheves  is  best 
calculated  to  further  its  own  special  interests.  The 
right  to  strike  or  to  lockout  may  then  be  exer- 
cised if  so  desired.  Meanwhile,  however,  the  pub- 
lic has  been  afforded  opportunity  to  learn  of  the 
existence  of  the  dispute,  and  to  gain  some  idea  of 
its  merits. 

The  real  significance  of  the  Canadian  Act  has 
been  well  set  forth  by  Sir  George  Askwith,  Chief 
Industrial  Commissioner  and  Chairman  of  the 
Industrial  Council  of  the  United  Kingdom,  who 
visited  Canada  in  the  autumn  of  1912  for  the  pur- 
pose of  inquiring  into  its  working.  In  his  Report 
thereon  to  the  British  Government,  Sir  George 
Askwith  says: 


498  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

"It  will  be  seen  that  the  Act  differs  essentially 
from  compulsory  arbitration.  It  only  endeavours 
to  postpone  a  stoppage  of  work  in  certain  indus- 
tries for  a  brief  period  and  for  a  specific  purpose. 
It  does  not  destroy  the  right  of  employers  or  work- 
people to  terminate  contracts.  It  does  not  attempt 
to  regulate  details  of  administration  of  business  by 
employers  or  interfere  with  organization  of  associa- 
tions of  employers  or  of  trade  unions.  It  legalises 
the  community's  right  to  intervene  in  a  trade  dis- 
pute by  enacting  that  a  stoppage  either  by  strike 
or  lockout  shall  not  take  place  until  the  commu- 
nity, through  a  Government  Department,  has  in- 
vestigated the  difference  with  the  object  of  ascer- 
taining if  a  recommendation  cannot  be  made  to  the 
parties  which  both  can  accept  as  a  settlement  of 
the  difference.  It  presupposes  that  industrial  dif- 
ferences are  adjustable,  and  that  the  best  method 
of  securing  adjustment  is  by  discussion  and  negoti- 
ation. It  stipulates  that  before  a  stoppage  takes 
place  the  possibilities  of  settlement  by  discussion 
and  negotiation  shall  have  been  exhausted,  but, 
and  here  it  differs  from  Compulsory  Arbitration,  it 
does  not  prohibit  a  stoppage  either  by  lockout  or 
strike  if  it  is  found  that  no  recommendation  can  be 
made  which  is  acceptable  to  both  sides.  If  no  way 
out  of  the  difficulty  can  be  found  acceptable  to  both 
parties,  there  is  no  arbitrary  insistence  upon  a  con- 
tinuance of  either  employment  or  labour,  but  both 
sides  are  left  to  take  such  action  as  they  may  think 
fit.  As  a  result,  it  does  not  force  unsuitable  regula- 
tions on  industries  by  compulsory  and  legal  insist- 
ence, but  leaves  an  opportunity  for  modification 
by  the  parties.  It  permits  elasticity  and  revision, 
and,  if  it  does  not  effect  a  settlement,  indicates  a 
basis  on  which  one  can  be  made."^ 

^  Report  to  the  Board  of  Trade  on  the  Industrial  Disputes  Investiga- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  499 

The  Industrial  Disputes  Investigation  Act  has 
been  on  the  statutes  of  Canada  for  a  number  of 
years.  It  was  introduced  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, during  the  session  of  1906-07,  by  the  Honor- 
able Rodolphe  Lemieux,  Postmaster  General  and 
Minister  of  Labor  at  the  time,  and  was  assented  to 
on  March  22, 1907.^  Since  its  enactment,  the  parties 
to  disputes  have  failed  in  some  instances  to  take 
advantage  of  its  provisions,  and  strikes  and  lock- 
outs have  occurred  notwithstanding  its  existence. 
In  such  cases,  there  has  been  either  ignorance  of  the 
law  or  a  behef  in  the  superior  merits  of  Force.  On 
the  whole,  however,  the  law  has  been  well  observed. 
On  this  point.  Sir  George  Askwith  says: 

"It  will  have  been  gathered  from  the  preceding 
explanation  of  the  working  of  the  Act  that  where  it 
was  frankly  accepted  as  a  means  of  preventing  dis- 
putes it  has  worked  extremely  well,  but  where,  for 
reasons,  some  apparent  and  others  which  can  only 
be  guessed  at,  its  introduction  has  been  resented, 
it  has  not  succeeded  to  the  same  extent."  ^ 

Personally,  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  instance,  in 
cases  where  the  provisions  of  the  Act  have  been 
ignored,  in  which  gain  has  come  to  any  of  the 
parties.  On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  disputes 

tion  Act  of  Canada,  1907,  p.  7,  by  Sir  George  Askwith,  K.C.B.,  K.C., 
Chief  Industrial  Commissioner.    [Cd.  66o3.]  London,  igiS. 

^  6-7  Edward  VII,  c.  20.  Amendments,  9-10  Edward  VII,  c.  29, 8-9 
George  V,  c.  27. 

2  Idem,  p.  i5. 


500  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

which  have  been  amicably  adjusted  under  the  Act 
without  loss  of  a  dollar  to  Capital,  a  day's  wage  to 
Labor,  or  a  moment's  inconvenience  to  the  pubUc, 
is  so  considerable  as  to  constitute  the  vast  majority 
of  the  cases  which  have  been  referred  under  its 
provisions.^ 

Since  the  commencement  of  the  War,  the  appli- 
cation of  the  Act  has  been  extended  by  the  Cana- 
dian Government  to  all  industries  carrying  on  work 
essential  to  the  prosecution  of  the  War.  As  already 
mentioned,  the  Government  has  also  estabhshed 
a  Board  of  Appeal,  composed  of  representatives  of 
Capital,  Labor,  and  the  Pubhc,  to  which  either  of 
the  parties  may  take  an  appeal  from  the  findings 
of  a  Board  of  Investigation.  This  Board  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  permanent  Court  of  Appeal. 

There  has  not  been  at  all  times  entire  satisfaction 
with  the  manner  in  which  the  law  has  been  admin- 
istered; there  has  been  no  attempt  in  ParUament, 
however,  to  repeal  the  statute.  The  amendments 
introduced  have  been  aimed  at  overcoming  limita- 
tions which  experience  of  its  working  has  disclosed. 
On  the  whole,  the  Act  has  grown  in  favor  as  its 
provisions  have  become  better  known  and  more 
generally  adopted  in  the  adjustments  of  disputes. 

*  The  Tenth  Report  of  the  Registrar  of  Boards  of  Conciliation  and 
Investigation  of  proceedings  under  the  Industrial  Disputes  Investiga- 
tion Act  shows  that  of  227  disputes  referred  under  the  Act  in  the  ten 
years  1907-17,  there  were  only  21  instances  in  which  strikes  were  not 
averted  or  ended.  Vide  Report  for  the  Fiscal  Year  ending  March  3i, 
1917. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  501 

Where  opposition  on  the  part  of  Labor  existed  at 
the  time  of  its  introduction,  that  opposition  has 
continued  in  part,  but  in  part  also  it  has  been  over- 
come. 

Of  the  attitude  of  employers  and  the  general 
public  in  Canada,  the  Report  of  Sir  George  Ask- 
with  says : 

"With  the  exception  of  one  employer,  who  was 
averse  to  any  interference,  and  anxious  to  fight  out 
any  differences  which  might  arise  between  himself 
and  his  employees,  I  found  the  many  employers 
whom  I  interviewed  generally  favourable  to  the 
Act,  certainly  to  its  principle  and  policy.  Many  ex- 
pressed themselves  as  being  willing  to  accept  any 
tribunal  which  promised  a  fair  and  impartial  con- 
sideration of  industrial  differences,  and  pronounced 
the  Industrial  Disputes  Investigation  Act  as  being 
the  best  that  had  been  devised.  Others  stated  that 
the  Act  did  not  go  far  enough,  but  agreed  with  it  so 
far  as  it  did  go.  .  .  . 

"The  pubhc  men  with  whom  I  discussed  the  Act 
were  practically,  without  exception,  favourable  to 
it,  and  thought  that  it  might  be  extended  with  ad- 
vantage to  other  trades.  They  particularly  em- 
phasized the  advantages  of  the  conciliatory  work 
effected  under  the  Act,  and  the  value  of  the  mutual 
understanding  which  had  been  in  many  instances 
obtained  by  means  of  it." 

Opinion  respecting  the  Act  has  changed  very 
little.  Sir  George  Askwith's  summary  may  be 
taken  as  true  to-day. 

Of  Labor's  attitude,  Sir  George  Askwith  says: 


502  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

*'In  considering  the  attitude  of  Labour  towards 
the  Act,  it  should  be  remembered,  therefore,  that 
the  Act  had  a  hostile  reception  from  some  of  those 
most  immediately  affected,  not  so  much  because  of 
any  demerits  it  might  possess,  but  because  it  was 
believed  to  have  been  introduced  with  a  view  to 
frustrate  their  efforts  in  the  effective  use  of  the 
strike  weapon. 

"  I  believe  this  conception  to  have  been  errone- 
ous, but  my  present  point  is  simply  to  show  that 
the  Act  was  prejudiced  in  the  early  stages  of  its 
work,  which  prejudice  has  retarded  the  full  bene- 
fits that  might  have  resulted  from  its  becoming 
law.  .  .  . 

"As  regards  the  Western  coal  miners,  this  atti- 
tude of  opposition  has  been  maintained,  and  has 
been  more  or  less  supported  by  many  leading  trade 
unionists.  With  respect  to  the  railway  unions, 
however,  a  reversal  of  their  former  attitude  has  re- 
sulted from  their  experience  under  the  Act,  and  no 
more  warm  supporters  of  the  Act  are  now  to  be 
found  in  the  Dominion  than  leaders  of  railway 
unions." 

The  cause  alleged  by  Sir  George  Askwith  ac- 
counts, without  doubt,  for  such  opposition  as  there 
has  been  to  the  measure  on  the  part  of  Labor,  and 
for  the  fact  that  some  leaders  of  Labor  in  countries 
outside  of  Canada  have  sought  to  arouse  prejudice 
against  the  introduction  of  similar  legislation  else- 
where. Labor  has  been  told  that  the  Act  takes 
away  "the  only  weapon"  Labor  has;  that  it  means- 
"industrial  servitude."  For  having  had  to  do  with 
the  drafting  of  the  measure,  I  was  represented 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  503 

before  the  United  States  Commission  on  Industrial 
Relations,  by  one  leader  of  Labor,  as  "an  alien, 
whose  contribution  to  the  industrial  problem  is  a 
law  that  prescribes  a  jail  sentence  for  the  worker 
who  dares  to  lay  down  his  tools."  ^ 

Let  me  invite  Labor  into  my  confidence  with 
respect  to  the  Canadian  Industrial  Disputes  Inves- 
tigation Act  and  the  circumstances  which  led  to 
its  enactment.  I  believe  a  true  appreciation  of  its 
real  purpose  will  serve  considerably  to  modify  what 
little  prejudice,  if  any,  may  still  exist  against  the 
principle  of  investigation  before  resort  to  Force  in 
the  settlement  of  industrial  disputes.  The  circum- 
stances which  led  the  Government  of  Canada  to 
estabUsh  machinery  for  the  investigation  of  Labor 
controversies  were  far  from  being  confined  to  those 
connected  with  any  single  strike.  They  related  to 
injustices  done  Labor  both  in  Canada  and  abroad. 
The  Government's  purpose  was  more  than  that  of 
simply  finding  a  means  to  prevent  strikes  and  lock- 
outs. It  was  the  large  purpose  of  providing  an  in- 
strument that  would  be  effective  in  uncovering 
industrial  wrongs  and  exposing  injustice  in  indus- 
trial controversies. 

During  the  summer  1906,  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment sent  me  to  confer  with  the  British  authorities 

*  Commission  on    Industrial  Relations.     Testimony,   vol.   vm, 
p.  8007.  Washington,  1916. 


504  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

as  to  the  desirability  of  the  enactment  of  a  law 
which  would  make  it  a  criminal  offence  for  persons 
in  the  United  Kingdom  and  Ireland  to  induce  labor, 
through  fraudulent  representations,  to  go  abroad. 
The  mission  followed  an  investigation  I  had  previ- 
ously made  in  Canada  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
a  party  of  skilled  printers,  some  seventy  in  num- 
ber, had  been  induced  to  leave  England  for  Winni- 
peg under  representations  that  they  were  to  obtain 
good  positions  in  the  Dominion,  when  in  reahty 
they  were  being  brought  to  the  country  as  strike- 
breakers.^ Only  a  year  or  two  before,  several  thou- 
sand Itahans  had  been  induced  to  come  to  Canada 
from  Italy  under  circumstances  which  were  gigan- 
tically fraudulent.2  The  exposures  of  the  inves- 
tigation into  the  circumstances  surrounding  this 
extraordinary  influx  were  followed  by  legislation 
making  it  a  criminal  offence  for  any  person  resident 
in  Canada  to  make  fraudulent  representations  with 
a  view  of  inducing  foreign  labor  to  come  to  Canada. ^ 
This  legislation,  it  will  be  observed,  was  made  ap- 
pUcable  necessarily  only  to  persons  resident  in  Can- 
ada.    It  could  not  reach  individuals  who  might 

*  Vide  "Investigation  of  Alleged  Fraudulent  Practices  in  England 
to  Induce  Printers  to  Come  to  Canada."  Labour  Gazette,  vol.  vi,  no.  lo, 
April,  1906,  pp.  ii22-n3o. 

*  Vide  "  Report  of  Deputy  Minister  of  Labour  on  Causes  of  Influx 
of  Italians  to  Montreal  during  1904."  Labour  Gazette,  vol.  vi,  no.  12, 
June  1906,  pp.  i3/i7-i35i. 

'  An  Act  respecting  false  representations  to  induce  or  deter  immi- 
gration. 4-5  Edward  VII,  c.  16. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  505 

carry  on  fraudulent  manoeuvres  in  other  countries. 
What  was  desired  of  the  British  Government  was 
the  enactment  of  similar  legislation  in  Great  Brit- 
ain to  prevent  fraudulent  representations  on  the 
part  of  persons  resident  in  the  British  Isles. 

The  Rt.  Hon.  David  Lloyd  George  was  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trade  at  the  time.  Along  with 
other  legislation,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  piloting 
through  Parhament  a  revision  of  the  Merchants 
Shipping  Act.  He  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and 
introduced  as  an  amendment  to  the  Merchants 
Shipping  Act  a  clause  which  adequately  covered 
what  was  desired.^  This  amendment  is  part  of 
British  law  to-day.  It  is  as  appUcable  to  fraud- 
ulent representations  to  induce  persons  to  emigrate 
to  the  United  States  or  any  other  country  as  to 
fraudulent  representations  with  respect  to  Canada. 

I  was  returning  from  fhis  mission  to  England 
when,  upon  arrival  at  New  York,  I  received  a  com- 
munication from  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  advising  me 
that  there  was  a  critical  situation  in  the  Canadian 
West  owing  to  a  prolonged  strike  in  certain  of  the 
coal  mines  in  Southern  Alberta.   Winter  was  ap- 

*  The  Merchants  Shipping  Act,  1906,  Sec.  24:  "If  any  person,  by 
any  false  representation,  fraud,  or  false  pretence,  induces  or  attempts 
to  induce  any  person  to  emigrate  or  to  engage  a  steerage  passage  in 
any  ship,  he  shall  for  each  offence  be  Uable  on  summary  conviction  to 
a  fine  not  exceeding  fifty  pounds,  or  to  imprisonment  with  or  without 
hard  labour  for  a  period  not  exceeding  three  months." 


506  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

preaching,  snow  had  ah-eady  begun  to  fly  on  the 
prairies,  and  representations  had  been  made  to  the 
Federal  Government  by  the  Government  of  Sas- 
katchewan that  unless  the  strike  could  be  speedily 
terminated,  and  a  supply  of  coal  immediately  ob- 
tained, settlers  would  certainly  freeze  to  death  in 
their  homes.  I  was  asked  to  proceed  at  once  to 
Alberta,  and  lend  the  good  offices  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  an  endeavor  to  efTect  a  settlement. 

As  I  went  west  across  the  prairies,  it  looked 
as  though  winter  had  already  set  in.  For  miles 
and  miles  on  either  side  of  the  railway  were  bleak 
stretches  of  snow-covered  ground,  nothing  to  be 
seen  anywhere  except  the  solitary  dwelling  of  some 
settler,  and,  now  and  then,  a  coyote  or  prairie 
wolf. 

As  I  came  into  Southern  Alberta,  the  scene  com- 
pletely changed.  There  the  weather  was  bright  and 
clear,  a  delightful  Indian  summer,  not  a  sign  of 
snow  anywhere.  It  was  difficult  to  get  the  parties 
to  the  industrial  controversy  to  appreciate  the 
gravity  of  the  situation  farther  north.  They  were 
set  in  their  attitude  of  long  defiance  towards  each 
other,  and  seemed  incapable  of  looking  beyond  the 
horizon. 

I  tried  to  bring  about  an  immediate  conference 
between  the  leaders  of  the  strikers  and  the  mana- 
ger of  the  Company,  but  at  once  I  was  told  that 
that  would  mean  "the  recognition  of  the  Union," 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  507 

and  that  it  was  on  the  question  of  recognition  the 
fight  was  being  made.  The  leaders  of  the  men 
were  ready  enough  for  a  conference,  but  the  Com- 
pany would  not  hear  of  it.  I  tried  every  means 
to  bring  about  a  conference  of  some  kind  between 
the  strikers  and  the  management,  knowing  full 
well  that  no  settlement  could  ever  be  reached  to 
which  both  sides  were  not  parties.  It  was  of  no 
avail.  I  could  propose  nothing  which  did  not  seem 
to  imply  "recognition."  Meanwhile,  telegrams  kept 
pouring  in  from  all  parts  of  Northern  Alberta  and 
Saskatchewan  telling  of  the  dire  distress  with 
which  municipalities  as  well  as  isolated  settlers 
were  confronted,  and  demanding  that  somehow 
the  mines  commence  operations. 

Along  with  hundreds  of  communications  re- 
ceived, there  came  to  my  notice  in  the  press  an 
open  letter  addressed  to  the  Prime  Minister  of  Can- 
ada. The  letter  seemed  to  me  then,  and  has  ever 
since  appeared,  a  splendid  example  of  what  is  meant 
by  participation  in  Government  through  the  in- 
forming of  Pubhc  Opinion.  It  was  one  of  those 
assertions  of  fundamental  rights  upon  the  part  of  a 
citizen  which  really  stand  for  government  by  the 
people.  It  belongs  to  the  instrumients  of  govern- 
ment by  which  the  liberties  of  a  free  people  are 
maintained.  I  quote  the  communication  just  as  it 
appeared : 


508  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Local  Improvement  District  of  Ramsay 
Bladworth,  Sask.,  Nov.  19,  1906. 

Dear  Sir  Wilfrid: 

The  hamlet  of  Bladworth  is  the  supplying  point 
for  settlers  in  approximately  twelve  townships  sur- 
rounding. 

These  townships  have  approximately  50  settlers 
each  settled  therein.  The  country  is  open  rolling 
prairie,  devoid  of  trees.  The  settlers  depend  for 
fuel  on  wood  and  coal  obtained  at  the  nearest  rail- 
way station,  Bladworth.  The  local  dealers  secure 
their  wood  from  the  Prince  Albert  country,  and 
their  coal  from  the  Gait  Mines,  Lethbridge.  No 
coal  has  been  obtained  from  this  latter  source  since 
April  last.  One  car  was  obtained  from  BanfT  in 
September  last,  since  which  no  coal  has  been  re- 
ceived here.  Ten  cars  are  under  orders  from  Leth- 
bridge, and  none  delivered.  One  car  is  ordered 
from  Estevan  and  promised  by  the  mine  operator 
for  December  17  next. 

Wood  has  been  ordered  from  the  Cowan  Com- 
pany, Prince  Albert,  and  their  answer  is : 

"We  have  neither  slabs,  edgings,  nor  cuttings, 
and  though  we  have  inquired  we  are  unable  to  pur- 
chase any  cordwood  —  there  is  none  in  the  city." 

Settlers  have  been  burning  lumber  at  $30.00  a 
thousand,  willow  bramble,  twisted  hay  and  grain. 
These  sources  are  well-nigh  exhausted. 
^  Dr.  J.  Fyfe  reports  from  observation  that  no  fuel 
is  in  the  settlers'  hands,  and  that  suffering  and  per- 
haps death  will  ensue  therefrom.  All  public  schools 
are  closed  for  want  of  fuel.  The  Saskatchewan 
Hotel,  a  thirty-roomed  house,  has  but  one  fire. 

A  bhzzard  had  been  blowing  on  November  15, 
16,  and  17,  with  zero  weather.  I  leave  you,  sir,  to 
imagine  what  the  condition  of  your  fellow-subjects 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  509 

is  in  the  electoral  district  of  Batoche  —  a  name  not 
unknown  in  history.  This  condition  is  not  local, 
but  general. 

We  are  informed  that  those  persons  operating 
the  mines  of  the  people  are  disputing  over  their 
rights  —  regardless  of  the  right  of  the  people  to 
live. 

I  would  respectfully  ask  that  you,  sir,  put  an  end 
to  a  dispute  that  is  intolerable,  and  the  mainten- 
nance  of  which  endangers  the  hfe  and  happiness 
(inahenable  rights  of  all  free  people)  of  all  settlers. 

I  ask  you,  sir,  on  behalf  of  a  suffering  people, 
that  by  the  powers  vested  in  you  the  right  of  emi- 
nent domain  be  exercised. 

I  can  assure  you,  sir,  without  exaggeration,  that 
this  matter  is  one  of  hfe  and  death  to  the  settlers 
here,  one  requiring  immediate  action. 
Your  obedient  humble  servant 
Wm.  L.  Ramsay 

Chairman  of  Committee 

To  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 
Premier  of  Canada 

Ottawa,  Can. 

Having  read  this  letter,  I  discussed  it  with  each 
of  the  parties,  pointing  out  how,  in  a  crisis  such  as 
it  depicted,  every  hour  was  a  matter  of  the  most  se- 
rious import.  I  supplemented  this  step  by  reading 
over  to  the  parties  communications  which  came 
to  hand  from  the  Government  of  Saskatchewan, 
stating  that  the  utmost  distress  was  existing 
throughout  that  province  on  account  of  an  actual 
coal  famine,  and  that  the  distress  was  increasing 


510  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

hourly,  with  the  prospect  of  the  most  alarming 
consequences  if  immediate  relief  were  not  afforded. 
Even  then,  it  was  impossible  to  reach  an  agreement. 
Wliat  stood  in  the  way  of  settlement?  Abso- 
lutely nothing  but  the  difficulty  of  bringing  about 
a  conference;  and  the  absence  of  any  machinery  to 
get  at  the  facts,  once,  after  days  of  delay,  a  con- 
ference was  finally  effected.  A  fully  informed  pub- 
lic opinion,  supplemented  by  the  probability  of  ac- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Government,  was  all  there 
was  wherewith  to  exert  any  pressure  upon  the  par- 
ties to  bring  them  to  a  sense  of  their  responsibility 
to  the  country.  It  proved  sufficient  in  the  end,  but 
not  until  after  much  suffering  had  been  endured  by 
hundreds  of  innocent  settlers.  A  strike  that  prob- 
ably never  would  have  taken  place  had  there  been 
in  existence  machinery  such  as  the  Industrial  Dis- 
putes Investigation  Act  provides,  and  which  with 
the  facilities  of  investigation  provided  by  the  Act, 
might  have  been  ended  in  two  days,  was  kept  on, 
day  in  and  day  out,  week  in  and  week  out,  and 
month  in  and  month  out,  owing  to  the  lack  of  any 
such  measure.^ 

When  I  returned  to  Ottawa,  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 
invited  me  to  a  conference  in  his  office.  He  spoke 
of  the  strike  and  the  very  critical  situation  it  had 

1  For  a  detailed  account  of  the  settlement  of  the  strike  herein  re- 
ferred to,  the  reader  is  referred  to  The  Labour  Gazette,  vol.  vii,  no.  6, 
December,  1906,  pp.  647-662. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  511 

occasioned  in  the  country.  He  mentioned  other 
strikes  that  had  taken  place,  and  the  possibihty  of 
similar  happenings  in  the  future.  He  said  the  in- 
terests of  the  country  demanded  that  something 
be  done  to  make  impossible  the  recurrence  of  such 
a  disastrous  situation.  He  asked  me  if  I  had  any 
suggestions  to  make. 

The  experiences  of  the  strike  I  had  just  dealt 
with  were  vividly  before  me.  Difficulties  encoun- 
tered as  a  mediator  in  the  adjustment  of  other  dis- 
putes were  also  present  to  my  mind.  I  spoke  of 
these  to  Sir  Wilfrid  and  of  the  services  which 
proper  machinery  for  investigation  might  have 
rendered  Labor  in  the  case  of  the  deceived  Ital- 
ians, and  the  wrongs  which  compulsory  investi- 
gation might  have  avoided  in  the  case  of  the  Win- 
nipeg Printers'  Strike.  I  had  no  doubt  as  to  what 
was  necessary  if  Labor  was  to  have  just  treatment 
in  matters  of  industrial  controversy.  Having  out- 
lined concrete  difficulties,  I  suggested  that  if  the 
Government  would  enact  a  law  which  would  com- 
pel parties  to  industrial  controversies  to  meet  to- 
gether and  discuss  their  differences  before  rela- 
tions were  severed  through  a  lockout  or  strike, 
and  which  would  provide  machinery  whereby, 
when  they  were  together,  it  would  be  possible  to 
get  at  the  truth,  I  believed  that  such  a  law  would 
eliminate  ninety  per  cent,  of  lockouts  and  strikes. 
Sir  Wilfrid  then  said,  "Well,  draft  such  a  law." 


512  INDUSTRY  AND  HUxMANITY 

The  Christmas  vacation  of  1906  was  devoted  to 
the  task.  Save  the  embodiment  of  the  principle  of 
conference  prior  to  the  severence  of  relations  be- 
tween parties  to  industrial  controversies,  there  was 
very  Httle  in  the  new  law  that  was  original.  In  the 
sources  of  labor  legislation  consulted,  the  experi- 
ences of  Great  Britain,  of  the  United  States,  of 
Austraha  and  New  Zealand,  were  all  drawn  upon. 
Such  features  of  compulsion  as  the  law  contained 
were  confined  to  those  essential  to  compelling  a 
conference,  and  to  giving  to  the  Pubhc,  as  well  as  to 
the  immediate  parties  to  industrial  controversies, 
opportunity  of  ascertaining  the  truth  before  the  com- 
mencement of  hostilities.  The  right  to  strike  or  to 
lockout  was  not  taken  away;  the  right  was  merely 
suspended.  The  Act  was  framed  with  a  view  to 
rendering  unnecessary  any  resort  to  a  strike  as  a 
means  of  compelling  consideration  of  grievances  or 
demands.  For  this  reason,  pending  the  necessary 
period  of  investigation,  the  right  to  strike  was  held 
in  abeyance,  not  more  in  the  interest  of  the  public 
than  in  the  interest  of  the  parties  themselves. 

In  drafting  this  legislation,  I  was  not  seeking  to 
take  away  from  Labor  any  right.  I  was  seeking  to 
gain  for  Labor  a  right  which  in  the  whole  of  its 
history  it  had  never  theretofore  enjoyed :  namely, 
the  right,  not  to  be  withheld,  of  having  investi- 
gated, at  public  expense,  upon  Labor's  own  motion, 
and  in  part  by  its  own  named  investigators,  any 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  513 

adverse  industrial  condition  likely  to  involve  a 
lockout  or  strike.  Such  power,  extending  to  the 
examination  of  documents,  the  taking  of  evidence 
under  oath,  the  inspection  of  premises,  surpassed 
the  Uvehest  expectations  of  Labor  at  the  time. 
Little  wonder  there  were  grave  doubts  in  my  own 
mind,  and  in  the  minds  of  officers  of  the  Do- 
minion Trades  and  Labor  Congress,  with  whom  I 
conferred  while  drafting  the  measure,  and  whom 
I  consulted  as  to  Labor's  acceptance  of  the  prin- 
ciple involved,  whether  Parliament  would  enact  a 
law  extending  such  powers,  in  return  only  for  the 
enjoyment  by  the  community  of  uninterrupted 
service  in  the  industry,  pending  the  use  of  the 
powers  the  Government  was  conceding. 

The  right  of  public  investigation  in  matters  of 
labor  controversy  is  a  very  far-reaching  and  potent 
right.  Compared  with  it,  as  a  means  of  securing 
justice,  the  strike  and  lockout  fade  into  insignifi- 
cance. I  know  of  no  instrument  so  powerful  to  put 
a  stop  to  arbitrary  conduct.  There  is  no  direction 
in  which  the  right  of  investigation  cannot  be  em- 
ployed with  the  utmost  advantage  to  Labor  and  to 
the  Community.  It  is  worth  any  concession  Labor 
is  able  to  make.  Think  what  its  exercise  meant  in 
the  case  of  the  telephone  and  cotton  mill  opera- 
tives, of  which  mention  has  been  made  elsewhere 
in  these  pages.  Think  what  it  might  have  meant. 


514  INDUSTRY  AND  HUIMANITY 

effectively  applied,  to  the  work  of  men,  women,  and 
girls  in  the  garment-making  industry  and  in  the 
match-making  industry,  to  mention  only  two  other 
examples  referred  to.  Labor  cannot,  wdth  any  sense 
of  fair  play,  demand  the  exercise  of  this  right  in 
matters  of  health  or  of  injustice  as  concerns  itself, 
and  deny  the  same  right  to  the  other  parties  to  In- 
dustry, when  its  exercise  means  the  preservation  of 
the  well-being  of  the  entire  community.  If  Indus- 
try is  to  be  regarded  as  in  the  nature  of  social  serv- 
ice, and  Labor  has  everything  to  gain  by  such  a 
conception  of  Industry  being  entertained,  then  the 
rights  of  all  the  parties  must  be  respected,  and  the 
Community,  along  with  Labor,  Capital,  and  Man- 
agement, must  be  accorded  full  knowledge  of  situ- 
ations which  bear  directly  upon  its  immediate  in- 
terests. There  cannot  be  regard  on  the  one  hand 
for  the  rights  of  Labor  and  Capital  by  the  Com- 
munity, and,  on  the  other,  indifference  to  the  well- 
being  of  the  Community  by  Labor  or  Capital. 

Labor  will  do  well  to  reflect  upon  all  that  is  in- 
volved in  the  gradual  extension  of  the  right  of  in- 
vestigation. Investigation  means  publicity  in  the 
matter  of  profits  as  well  as  in  the  matter  of  wages. 
Why  should  there  not  be  like  publicity  if  both  are 
honestly  earned?  Investigation  can  be  extended 
to  publicity  in  the  matter  of  excess  prices,  as  well 
as  to  the  exposure  of  all  forms  of  profiteering.  The 
presence  on  the  Statutes  of  Canada  of  the  Indus- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  515 

trial  Disputes  Investigation  Act  of  1907  enabled  me, 
in  1910,  to  introduce  and  support  in  Parliament  a 
Combines  Investigation  Act,  giving  to  consumers 
rights  and  powers  of  investigation,  similar  to  those 
embodied  in  the  Industrial  Disputes  Act,  with  re- 
spect to  alleged  enhancement  of  prices  or  restraint 
of  trade  from  combinations  in  the  nature  of  Trusts, 
Combines,  Monopolies,  and  Mergers.^  This  statute 
is  part  of  the  law  of  Canada  to-day.  Were  full  ad- 
vantage taken  of  its  provisions,  it  would  make  pro- 
fiteering in  any  form  impossible.  Had  the  Govern- 
ment of  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  continued  in  ofTice, 
these  two  measures  would  have  been  supplemented 
by  a  third  designated  the  Industrial  Conditions  In- 
vestigation Act,  with  machinery,  functions,  and 
powers  similar  to  those  pertaining  to  the  investi- 
gation of  industrial  disputes  but  applicable  to  any 
industrial  situation  demanding  investigation  in  the 
pubhc  interest.  The  principle  of  such  a  measure  had 
been  accepted,  and  its  provisions  in  the  form  of  a 
draft  bill  prepared,  by  the  Administration.  It  was 
denied  introduction  into  Parhament  only  because 
of  the  summary  dissolution  of  Parhament  at  the 
time  of  the  Reciprocity  proposals. 

If  I  have  sought  to  promote  legislation  which 
would  make  investigation  available  in  many  di- 
rections, it  is  because  I  have  faith  in  the  power  of 

'  Statutes  of  Canada,  igio;  g-io  Edward  VII,  c.  g.    An  Act  to 
provide  for  the  investigation  of  Combines,  Monopolies,  Trusts,  and 

Mergers. 


516  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

an  intelligently  formed  Public  Opinion  to  remove 
any  injustice  and  to  redress  any  wrong.  There  is 
a  class  of  evils  which  publicity  is  more  effective 
to  remedy  than  penalty.  Most  industrial  wrongs 
belong  to  this  class.  As  respects  all  such  measures, 
may  I  repeat  here  what  I  said  in  the  Canadian 
House  of  Commons,  over  eight  years  ago,  in  the 
course  of  the  debate  on  the  Combines  Investigation 
Act.i  The  words  are  equally  apphcable  to' the  in- 
vestigation of  industrial  disputes  prior  to  a  lockout 
or  strike,  and  as  such  I  would  address  them  es- 
pecially to  Labor. 

"  It  is  in  the  machinery  for  investigation  and  for 
the  framing  and  shaping  of  an  intelligent  pubhc 
opinion  which  the  measure  provides,  that  its  main 
features  exist.  It  aims  to  get  at  the  truth  and  to 
have  the  truth,  when  ascertained,  so  presented  that 
the  remedy  for  a  wrong  disclosed  will  be  self-evi- 
dent. It  is  framed  in  the  behef  that,  once  in  posses- 
sion of  the  facts  which  are  of  first  importance  to  it- 
self, the  public  will  fmd  a  way  of  seeing  that  any  evil 
under  which  it  may  be  wrongfully  suffering  will  be 
removed  and  that  no  situation,  however  compli- 
cated, will  prove  too  intricate  for  a  satisfactory 
solution.  To  ascertain  the  facts,  to  get  at  the 
truth,  is  the  first  of  all  essentials.  It  relies  on  the 
moral  sense  of  the  community  as  a  compelling 
force,  when  concentrated  intelligently  on  a  busi- 
ness wrong.  IntelHgent  public  opinion  will  protect 
honest  business  and  condemn  unfair  practices. 

*  Hansard,  House  of  Commons  Debates,  April  12,  1910,  pp. 
6860-6861. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  517 

"  In  the  publicity,  therefore,  which  this  measure 
secures,  not  to  private  affairs  of  honest  business 
men,  as  may  be  urged  by  those  who  are  interested 
in  thwarting  legislation  of  this  kind,  but  to  the 
wrongful  acts  of  mean  men,  lies  its  strength  in  se- 
curing the  well-being  of  the  people,  which  it  is  its 
purpose  to  maintain.  It  is  an  honest  endeavour  to 
grapple  in  a  fearless,  practical,  and  thorough  man- 
ner with  what  is,  undoubtedly,  the  most  compli- 
cated, intricate,  and  far-reaching  of  those  prob- 
lems to  which  our  present  social,  industrial,  and 
commercial  life  have  given  rise,  and  which  pre- 
sents, I  believe,  more  difTiculties  than  any  other 
single  problem  in  the  world  to-day.  If  it  does  noth- 
ing more  than  restrain  to  some  extent  the  aggres- 
sive tendencies  of  large  aggregations  of  wealth,  and 
secure  as  respects  those  powerful  interests,  some 
measure  of  that  social  control  which  is  essential  to 
the  protection  of  the  well-being  of  the  many,  it 
will  prove  not  only  a  benefit  to  this  nation,  but,  I 
believe,  an  onward  step  in  the  march  of  social 
progress." 

The  acceptance  of  the  principle  of  investigation 
prior  to  the  lockout  or  strike  marks  the  beginning 
of  the  introduction  of  Law  and  Order  into  Industry; 
also  the  beginning  of  Joint-Control.  To  secure  its 
universal  application,  its  enforcement  by  the  State 
is  necessary,  just  as  the  universal  enforcement  of  a 
National  Minimum  or  of  any  Labor  standard  re- 
quires some  element  of  compulsion.  In  measures 
aimed  at  the  protection  of  society,  the  police  power 
must  not  be  confused  with  aggressive  force;  the 
two  are  fundamentally  different. 


518  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

Private  rights  cease  when  they  become  pubhc 
wrongs.  Is  not  this  the  principle  underlying  law 
and  order  in  all  civilized  communities?  Is  it  a  prin- 
ciple from  which  communities  can  depart  without 
inviting  anarchy?  It  cannot  be  contended  that 
what  is  a  matter  of  grave  concern  to  the  public  is 
a  matter  of  exclusive  concern  to  private  parties. 
There  is  no  right  superior  to  that  of  the  community 
as  a  whole.  The  pubhc  has  a  right  to  be  informed 
impartially  on  the  merits  of  situations  which 
threaten  its  well-being.  If  there  is  to  be  orderly 
organization  of  Industry,  on  a  partnership  or  any 
other  basis;  if  joint  industrial  councils  and  works 
committees  are  to  have  their  chance  in  the  days  of 
reconstruction,  there  must  be  procedure  in  accord- 
ance with  known  principles  and  rules,  with  respect 
to  the  adjustment  of  all  disputes. 

There  is  a  crafty  opportunism  which  would  pre- 
fer that  principles  and  rules  should  not  be  too 
definitely  stated,  an  unprincipled  strategy  that  is 
continually  shifting  its  position  in  order  to  avoid 
impending  responsibilities,  or  repudiating  prin- 
ciples that  some  immediate  temporary  advantage 
may  be  gained.  Such  practices  are  destructive  of 
the  very  foundations  of  industrial  justice.  Law 
and  order  cannot  exist  without  stability;  and  sta- 
bility cannot  endure  where  opportunism  prevails. 

We  have  become  accustomed  to  juridical  meth- 
ods in  the  settlement  of  most  matters  of  civil  con- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  519 

troversy.  Is  there  an  argument  to  be  urged  in 
support  of  the  apphcation  of  this  method  to  civil 
disputes  which  does  not  apply  with  even  vaster 
significance  to  the  prevention  and  settlement  of 
industrial  and  international  disputes?  We  know 
how  indispensable  is  the  parliamentary  method 
with  respect  to  the  conduct  of  government  in  the 
State.  Is  there  aught  to  be  said  in  its  favor  which  is 
not  equally  apphcable  to  government  in  Industry? 
The  parhamentary  and  juridical  methods  are  alike 
methods  of  argument  and  debate.  They  make  their 
appeal  to  Reason,  not  to  Force.  The  scientific 
method  is  likewise  the  method  of  appeal  to  Reason. 
Is  Industry  so  different  from  all  else  that  it  can 
afford  as  respects  its  evolution  to  dispense  with 
methods  upon  which  Law,  Government,  and  Sci- 
ence ahke  depend? 

The  War  has  obliged  us  to  reflect  upon  these 
matters,  and  reflection,  happily,  is  having  a  whole- 
some effect  upon  Opinion.  By  emphasizing  the 
need  of  maximum  production  and  uninterrupted 
operation  in  essential  industries,  the  War  has  com- 
pelled, in  most  countries,  the  establishment  of  ade- 
quate machinery  for  the  adjustment  of  industrial 
controversies  in  accordance  with  the  juridical  and 
parliamentary  methods.  The  provision  of  adequate 
means  of  investigation  has  been  accompanied  by 
an  insistence,  as  a  part  of  government  policy,  upon 


520  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

acceptance  of  the  principle  of  investigation  prior 
to  a  lockout  or  strike.  The  two  necessarily  go  to- 
gether. If  there  are  to  be  no  strikes  or  lockouts 
prior  to  investigation,  the  facilities  for  investigation 
must  be  adequate  and  efficient.  Though  the  govern- 
ments of  both  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
have  not  provided  specific  penalties  for  failure  to 
comply]  with  the  principle  of  investigation  prior 
to  a  severance  of  industrial  relations,  they  have 
not  hesitated  to  let  the  power  of  pubhc  authority 
be  felt  toward  this  end  in  ways  which  render  insig- 
nificant penalties  of  the  extent  the  Canadian  law 
imposes.  Moreover,  the  present  pohcy  in  those 
countries  extends  beyond  that  of  suspension  of  the 
right  to  strike  or  lockout,  to  complete  prevention 
of  strikes  and  lockouts  in  industries  essential  to  the 
prosecution  of  the  War.^ 

The  really  important  fact  is  that  the  application 
of  the  principle  of  investigation  to  industrial  con- 
troversies prior  to  the  lockout  or  strike  is  itself 
producing  a  marked  change  in  sentiment  toward 
this  method  of  procedure.  Many  leaders  of  Labor, 
as  well  as  many  others  who  formerly  hesitated  to 
advise  a  restriction  of  the  right  to  strike  or  lockout 
prior  to  investigation,  have  become  the  strongest 

^  While  this  book  has  been  passing  through  the  press,  the  Can- 
adian Government  has  absolutely  prohibited,  for  the  duration  of  the 
War,  strikes  and  lockouts  in  industries  to  which  the  Industrial  Dis- 
putes Investigation  Act  applies,  and  has  adopted  measures  for  the 
enforcement  of  obedience  and  compliance  with  the  orders  or  decisions 
of  Boards.   (Order  in  Council,  October  ii,  19 18.) 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  521 

advocates  of  the  adoption  of  this  principle.  The 
fact  that  such  persons  are  influenced  in  their  atti- 
tude by  motives  of  patriotism  only  lends  emphasis 
to  the  wisdom  of  the  principle  itself.  In  times  of 
peace,  the  principle  is  the  same  as  in  times  of  war. 

No  one  will  deny  that  Organized  Labor  in  the 
United  States  has  sought  to  uphold  the  Federal 
Administration  in  its  war  policies.  The  policy  of 
organized  Labor  and  the  policy  of  the  Federal  Ad- 
ministration have  been  one  as  respects  the  preven- 
tion of  strikes  and  lockouts  ever  since  the  entry  of 
the  United  States  into  the  War.  I  might  quote 
from  any  number  of  communications  to  illustrate 
the  Administration's  pohcy.  One  quotation,  char- 
acteristic of  the  rest,  will  perhaps  suffice,  since 
there  has  been  no  variation  in  the  note  sounded 
from  Washington. 

On  May  4,  1918,  the  Honorable  W.  B.  Wilson, 
Secretary  of  Labor  of  the  United  States,  sent  a 
lengthy  message  to  employees  who  had  gone  on 
strike  in  an  important  industry  in  the  Eastern 
States.  1  The  message  loses  none  of  its  significance 
from  the  circumstance  that  Secretary  Wilson  was 
for  some  time  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  and  has  lost 
none  of  his  understanding  of  or  sympathy  with 
Labor's  aspirations.^   In  this  despatch,  which  was 

'  Strike  of  cranemen  and  riggers  in  the  employ  of  the  General 
Electric  Company  at  Schenectady  and  Pittsfield. 
*  An  attitude  similar  to  that  of  the  Secretary  of  Labor  in  the  United 


522  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

sent  in  the  first  instance  by  telegram,  Mr,  Wilson 
says  in  part : 

"If  no  other  means  had  been  provided  for  ad- 
justment of  Labor  disputes,  strikes  might  be  justi- 
fiable as  a  means  of  protecting  the  workers  against 
arbitrary  wrong.  Other  means  have  been  provided. 
The  National  War  Labor  Board  has  been  created, 
composed  of  equal  numbers  of  representatives  of 
Labor  selected  upon  the  nomination  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  and 
representatives  of  employers  selected  upon  the 
nomination  of  the  National  Industrial  Conference 
Board.  The  Board  is  so  constituted  that  Labor 
can  get  a  fair  hearing  and  fair  judgment  at  its 
hands.  From  my  personal  knowledge  of  the  Labor 
movement,  I  know  that  that  is  all  that  Labor  is 
asking.  The  method  has  the  approval  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  who,  in  a  proclamation 
issued  under  date  of  April  eighth  of  this  year, 
said, '  I  do  hereby  urge  upon  all  employers  and  em- 
ployees within  the  United  States  the  necessity  of 
utilizing  the  means  and  methods  provided  for  the 
adjustment  of  all  industrial  disputes,  and  request 
that  during  the  pendency  of  mediation  or  arbitra- 
tion through  the  said  means  and  methods,  there 
shall  be  no  discontinuance  of  industrial  operations 
which  would  result  in  curtailment  of  the  produc- 
tion of  war  necessities.'  Our  boys  are  at  the  front. 
They  are  making  the  supreme  sacrifice  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  hves  of  our  people  and  the  mainten- 

States  has  been  taken  in  Canada  by  the  Honorable  Senator  Gideon 
Robertson,  member  of  the  Cabinet  without  portfoHo.  Mr.  Robert- 
son's appointment  to  the  Senate  was  regarded  as  a  recognition  of 
Organized  Labor,  as  was  also  his  appointment  as  Chairman  of  a  Sub- 
cooxmittee  of  Labor  ilelatious  uf  the  Committee  on  Reconstruction. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  523 

ance  of  our  institutions.  Surely  it  is  not  asking  you 
too  much  in  their  name  to  urge  that  you  return  to 
work,  submitting  your  disputes  to  the  War  Labor 
Board  for  adjustment." 

"In  their  name!"  Has  not  Secretary  Wilson 
given  to  the  world  the  base  line  from  which  coun- 
tries must  make  their  new  beginnings  when  the 
War  is  ended?  What  is  it  for  which  they  have 
fought  and  died,  our  honored  dead,  the  chivalry  of 
our  race !  Is  it  that  we  may  leave  the  bloodstained 
fields  of  Europe  to  begin  anew  the  struggle  between 
man  and  man  which  has  its  origin  only  in  a  belief 
in  Force?  Or  shall  we  become  the  beneficiaries  of 
their  sacrifices,  the  inheritors  of  their  victories,  nay 
more,  the  trustees  of  their  honor,  their  valor,  and 
their  virtue;  and,  in  the  part  which  it  is  ours  to  play, 
make  the  appeal  to  Reason,  and  not  to  Force;  and 
aim  in  all  things  at  government  by  Consent?  It  is 
the  only  memorial  worthy  of  their  memories  which 
it  is  within  our  power  to  raise ! 

There  would  have  been  no  war  had  the  principle 
of  investigation  before  resort  to  Force  been  the 
guiding  principle  in  the  affairs  of  nations.  What  a 
momentous  thought;  what  a  responsibihty  upon 
those  who  in  industrial  or  international  relations 
may  remain  indifferent  to  this  principle!  Can  we 
fight  for  one  principle  abroad,  and  act  upon  an 
opposite  principle  at  home? 


524  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

If  Industry  is  to  serve  Humanity,  it  can  only  be 
through  general  acceptance  of  the  principle  of  in- 
vestigation prior  to  the  severance  of  relations,  on 
the  part  of  the  parties  to  Industry,  and  on  the  part 
of  rival  nations.  So  long  as  nations  place  reliance 
upon  Force  and  not  upon  Reason,  so  long  will  war 
be  inevitable,  and  the  fear  of  war  continue  to  make 
of  Industry  a  vast  machine  to  aid  in  the  destruction 
of  Humanity,  instead  of  being,  as  it  ought  to  be, 
the  mightiest  instrument  for  the  relief  of  mankind. 

Throughout  the  universe  and  within  the  soul  of 
man,  the  battle  is  forever  between  Fear  and  Faith. 
Fear  puts  its  rehance  on  Force;  Faith,  its  rehance 
on  Consent.  Each  plays  its  part  in  all  human  en- 
deavor. Faith  gives  wings  to  every  effort;  Fear 
binds  with  unrelenting  power.  We  cannot  too 
often  repeat  that  it  is  the  fear  of  war  which  begets 
necessary  preparation  for  war;  and  that  the  prep- 
aration for  war  means  the  use  of  Industry  to  forge 
and  manufacture  the  equipment  of  the  world's  vast 
armies  and  the  not  less  mighty  equipment  of  its 
huge  navies,  as  well  as  war's  extensive  parapher- 
nalia. In  times  of  actual  war,  this  feeding  of  the 
forces  of  Blood  and  of  Death,  through  the  utiliza- 
tion of  a  nation's  capital  and  labor,  is  visible  to 
all.  In  times  of  peace,  the  difference  is  not  in  kind, 
only  of  degree. 

As  fears  arc  aroused,  impulses  which  stimulate 
competitive  arming  are  revived,  and  as  these  im- 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  525 

pulses  find  expression  in  increased  armaments  and 
increased  efficiency  in  military  and  naval  organiza- 
tion, they  in  turn  foster  fresh  fears.  And  so  the 
hideous  process  goes  on.  More  and  more  of  a  na- 
tion's power  in  Labor  and  Capital  is  drawn  away 
from  the  channels  of  Industry  that  minister  to  the 
relief  of  Humanity,  and  is  forced  through  channels 
that  sooner  or  later  lead  to  certain  destruction. 
"Well  may  we  ask,  is  there  no  power  on  earth  which 
can  break  the  vicious  circle  that  holds  the  world's 
populations  in  such  appalling  servitude?  Is  there 
no  influence  as  potent  as  a  world's  fears  to  unloose 
the  burden  Humanity  is  forever  binding  upon  it- 
self, till  it  lies  crushed  and  bleeding  beneath  the 
load?  Is  there  no  way  to  ensure  obedience  to  the 
Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health? 

In  education  by  precept  and  practice,  lies  the 
last  hne  of  defence  against  industrial  and  interna- 
tional strife.  Whatever  advances  a  right  principle 
in  the  one  sphere,  will  help  to  advance  it  in  the 
other;  and  whatever  hinders  it  in  the  one  will  hin- 
der it  also  in  the  other.  The  nation  that  exalts 
Might  above  Right,  that  encourages  its  people  to 
look  to  Force  rather  than  to  Reason,  is  helping  to 
bring  destruction  not  only  upon  others  but  upon 
itself.  Statesmen  who  encourage  reliance  on  Force 
in  international  affairs  need  not  be  surprised  if 
within  the  borders  of  their  own  countries  the  classes 


526  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

engaged  in  Industry  are  also  constantly  engaged  in 
strife.  Labor  and  Capital,  likewise,  need  experience 
no  surprise  if,  indifferent  to  the  use  of  Force  in  their 
own  'relations,  and  fostering  its  use  by  example, 
industrial  strife  becomes  an  undermining  process, 
leading  to  international  unrest  and  begetting  the 
very  fears  which  drain  productive  Industry  of  its 
vitality.  That  nation  alone  furthers  a  regard  for 
the  sovereign  power  of  Reason,  which  so  regulates 
affairs  within  its  own  borders  that  investigation  of 
industrial  wrongs  precedes  all  efTorts  at  redress  by 
Force.  It  alone  gives  to  the  family  of  nations  the 
example  of  how  best  to  promote  "on  earth  Peace, 
Good-will  towards  men." 

The  methods  of  preserving  peace  between  na- 
tions are  precisely  similar  to  those  that  obtain  in 
Industry.  International  concihation  is  the  same 
in  principle  as  industrial  conciliation ;  international 
arbitration,  the  same  as  industrial  arbitration;  ju- 
dicial settlement  of  international  disputes  by  a 
Hague  Tribunal  and  supported  by  a  world  opinion 
enforceable  by  an  international  pohce,  the  same  in 
principle  and  method  as  the  compulsory  investiga- 
tion of  industrial  disputes  under  statutory  author- 
ity. In  all  these  great  movements  tow^ard  world 
peace,  beginnings  have  already  been  made.  It 
rests  with  Labor  and  Capital  to  decide  in  what 
measure  they  will  succeed. 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  527 

The  affairs  of  Industry  are  matters  of  more  gen- 
eral concern  than  those  of  Nationahty.  The  meth- 
ods, therefore,  which  Labor  and  Capital  employ  in 
the  elimination  of  industrial  fears,  will  inevitably 
become  the  methods  by  which  international  fears 
will  be  allayed.  It  is  simply  a  matter  of  education. 
Where,  in  the  afYairs  of  every-day  life,  principles 
which  lie  at  the  basis  of  industrial  peace  are  com- 
monly applied,  it  is  unreasonable  not  to  expect 
the  application  of  the  same  principles  as  the  basis 
of  international  peace.  And  with  the  application 
of  these  principles  to  Industry  and  Nationality 
alike,  what  a  new  epoch  would  come  into  being! 
No  longer,  either  within  Industry  or  between  coun- 
tries, would  there  be  massing  of  resources  for  use 
in  possible  conflict,  or  the  diversion  of  Industry  to 
the  service  of  war.  There  would  be  the  releasing 
everywhere  of  energy  and  power  to  meet  the  needs 
of  Humanity,  to  increase  the  sum  of  its  enjoyments 
and  to  widen  the  bounds  of  its  freedom. 

The  acceptance  by  nations  of  the  principle  of  in- 
vestigation before  resort  to  hostilities  would  mark 
the  dawn  of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
It  is  within  the  power  of  Labor  and  Capital  to 
evoke  that  dawn.  Let  Labor  and  Capital  agree, 
where  differences  arise  between  them,  that  they 
will  not  sever  relations,  until  at  least  the  points  of 
difference  have  been  inquired  into;  let  them  place 


528  INDUSTRY  AND  HUMANITY 

their  faith  in  an  enhghtened  Pubhc  Opinion  as 
more  fruitful  of  Justice  than  an  appeal  to  Force, 
and  they  will  have  set  out  with  tenfold  energy 
upon  the  mightiest  service  ever  rendered  Mankind. 

It  is  not  alone  a  new  dawn  Labor  and  Capital 
may  summon  forth;  they  can  create  a  wholly  new 
civilization.  Let  Labor  and  Capital  unite  under 
the  inspiration  of  a  common  ideal,  and  human  so- 
ciety itself  will  become  transformed.  Such  is  the 
method  of  creative  evolution.  Substances  and  forces 
hitherto  separate  and  distinct,  brought  into  har- 
monious relationship,  become  transformed  into  sub- 
stances and  forces  capable  of  rendering  higher  and 
greater  service.  So  it  is  in  the  whole  realm  of  hfe. 
Men  or  nations  unite  for  a  given  purpose.  Under 
the  inspiration  of  an  hitherto  unknown  ideal,  they 
become  capable  of  a  service  vaster  than  any  of 
which  they  have  ever  dreamed.  Let  Labor  and 
Capital  unite  under  the  ideal  of  social  service :  the 
work  of  material  production  will  go  on;  not  only 
will  it  vastly  increase,  but  the  whole  complexion  of 
Industry  will  become  transformed.  No  longer  will 
Industry  be  the  battle-ground  of  rival  and  con- 
tending factions;  it  will  become  the  foundation 
of  a  new  civilization  in  which  life  and  happiness 
abound. 

Is  it  too  much  to  beheve  that,  having  witnessed 
Humanity  pass  through  its  Gethsemane,  having 
seen  its  agony  in  its  Garden  of  Fears,  having  beheld 


EDUCATION  AND  OPINION  529 

its  crucifixion  upon  the  cross  of  Militarism,  Labor 
and  Capital  will  yet  bring  to  a  disconsolate  and 
brokenhearted  world  the  one  hope  it  is  theirs  alone 
to  bring;  and  that,  in  the  acceptance  of  principles 
which  hold  deliverance  from  the  scourges  that  be- 
set Mankind,  they  will  roll  back  the  stone  from  the 
door  of  the  world's  sepulchre  to-day,  and  give  to 
Humanity  the  promise  of  its  resurrection  to  a  more 
abundant  life? 


THE  END 


APPENDIX 

CHARTS  AND  DIAGRAMS  ILLUSTRATIVE 
OF  INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS 


I.  Chart  illustrative  of  the  Nature  of  In- 
dustrial Relations       ......  534 

II.  Chart    illustrative    of    Progress    in     In- 
dustry          536 

III.  Chart  illustrative  of  Important  Contrib- 

uting Factors  in  Industrial  Relations  .  538 

IV.  Chart   illustrative    of   the    Nature    and 

Scope  of  Important  Contributing  Factors 

IN  Industrial  Relations 540 

V.  Chart  illustrative  of  the  Law  of  Peace, 
Work,  and  Health,  in  Relations  within 

and  without  Industry 542 

VI.  Chart    illustrative    of    the    Action  and 

Reaction  of  Discovery   and  Invention, 

Government,  Education,  and  Opinion,  in 

Relations  within  and  without  Industry  544 

VII.  Chart  illustrative  of  Factors  influencing 

Relations  within  and  without  Industry  546 
VIII.  Chart  illustrative  of  the  Parties  to  In- 
dustry AND  Suggestive  of  Factors  and 

Influences 548 

IX.  Chart  Illustrative  of  the  Terms  and  the 
Working-out  of  Industrial  Agreements, 
and  Important  Contributing  Influences  552 

Plan  of  Industrial  Representation  in  the  Min- 
ing Camps  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron 
Company  in  Colorado  and  Wyoming    .       .       .  556 


534  APPENDIX 


NO.  I 

CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  INDUS- 
TRIAL RELATIONS 

Chart  No.  I  is  intended  to  illustrate  that  industrial  rela- 
tions are  in  the  nature  of  relations  between  human  beings, 
arising  in  connection  with  the  parties  to,  the  terms  of,  and 
the  working-out  of,  an  agreement,  expressed  or  implied, 
between  Capital,  Labor,  Management,  and  the  Commu- 
nity (the  parties  to  Industry)  to  unite  in  the  work  of 
production;  also  that  all  phases  of  the  relationships  thus 
created  are  affected  by  the  observance  or  disregard  of 
principles  underlying  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health. 


INDUSTRIAL   RELATIONS 

COMPRISE 

THE   RELATIONS    BETWEEN    HUMAN 

AS  THESE  ARISE  IN  CONNECTION  WITH 


BEINGS 


CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF 
THE  NATURE  OF  INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS 


536  APPENDIX 


NO.  II 

CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDUSTRY 

Chart  No.  II  is  intended  to  illustrate  that  progress  in  In- 
dustry depends  upon  proper  adjustments  between  Capital, 
Labor,  Management,  and  the  Community,  in  accordance 
with  principles  underlying  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and 
Health. 

From  the  Chart,  it  will  be  observed  that,  w'hile  Industry 
is  primarily  dependent  upon  available  Capital,  Labor,  Man- 
agement, and  Community  services  and  needs,  its  extent 
depends  upon  the  extent  of  co-operation  between  the  parties 
in  the  work  of  production.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  area  rep- 
resentative of  Industry  (either  of  Industry  as  a  whole  or 
of  individual  industries)  is  comprised  of  the  extent  to  which 
Capital,  Labor,  Management,  and  the  Community  unite 
in  the  work  of  production.  If  any  one  or  more  of  the  circles 
representative  of  Capital,  Labor,  Management,  and  the 
Community,  were  to  be  withdrawn  from  any  part  of  the 
area  illustrative  of  co-operation  between  the  parties  rep- 
resented by  the  several  circles,  the  area  representative  of 
Industry  would  correspondingly  diminish.  As  the  several 
circles  approach  coincidence,  the  area  of  Industry  enlarges. 
Within  Industry,  progress  depends  upon  the  extent  to 
which  co-operation,  and  co-ordination  of  function,  between 
the  parties  is  in  accordance  with  principles  underlying  the 
Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health.  Wherever  in  Industry 
there  is  not  this  regard,  confusion  results. 


MANAGEMENT 


T\HE  ///  >  \C0  MM  UNITY 

■<!/        PROGllESS 


CAPITAL 


The  Law  of  ]\'urk 


LABOR 


CONFUSION 


CHART  IliliUSTBAXlVE  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDUSTRY 


538  APPENDIX 


NO.  Ill 

CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  IMPORTANT  CONTRIBU- 
TING FACTORS  IN  INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS 

Chart  No.  Ill  is  intended  to  suggest  that,  of  the  factors 
bearing  immediately  and  continuously  on  industrial  rela- 
tions, the  most  important  are  Discovery  and  Invention, 
Government,  Education,  and  Opinion,  It  is  further  in- 
tended to  suggest  that  all  of  these  factors  are  continually 
affecting  industrial  relations  on  a  scale  which  expands  from 
being  local  to  being  world-wide  in  significance;  also  that 
influences  which  are  distinctly  local,  state,  national,  or 
international  act  and  react  upon  each  other.  The  undulat- 
ing lines  are  intended  to  convey  the  impression  that,  not 
only  do  Discovery  and  Invention,  Government,  Education, 
and  Opinion  affect  industrial  relations,  but  that  whatever 
transpires  in  Industry  has  likewise  its  effect  upon  Discovery 
and  Invention,  Government,  Education,  and  Opinion. 

Not  only  do  the  factors  mentioned  affect  Industry  as  a 
whole,  and  in  a  large  way,  in  the  manner  indicated;  they 
also  continually  affect,  beneficially  or  the  reverse,  the  par- 
ties to  Industry,  the  terms  and  the  working-out  of  agree- 
ments, expressed  or  implied,  according  as  there  is  care  or 
neglect  in  the  application  of  principles  underlying  the  Law 
of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health. 


DISCOVERY  AIST)  TNVENTION-GOVERNMENT-EDUCATION— OEINION 

MAY   AFFECT  FAVORABLY  OR   ADVERSELY 

ON 

VjrrERNATIOJUl^C 

Afi, ■ OR    OK  ~-- — ~i^^ 

^    NATION AL^C^ig 


CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF 
IMPORTANT  CONTRIBUTING 
FACTORS  IN   INDUSTRIAL, 
RELATIONS 


NOTE: 

Industrial  Relations  May 

Similarly  Affect 

Discovery  i  Invention, 

Government,  Educationj  Opinion 


540  APPENDIX 


NO.  IV 

CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  NATURE  AND  SCOPE 
OF  IMPORTANT  CONTRIBUTING  FACTORS  IN  IN- 
DUSTRIAL RELATIONS 

Chart  No.  IV  is  similar  to  Chart  No.  Ill,  except  that  the 
several  factors  indicated  are  transposed  in  a  manner  which 
serves  to  emphasize  their  nature  and  scope. 

The  Chart  suggests  that  influences  which  are  local, 
state,  national,  or  international  in  extent,  are  operating 
continually  upon  Discovery  and  Invention,  Government, 
Education,  and  Opinion,  as  these  several  factors  affect 
the  parties  to  Industry,  the  terms  and  the  working-out  of 
industrial  agreements,  expressed  or  implied,  as  respects 
individual  industrial  enterprises,  and  Industry  as  a  whole. 


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CHART  ILLUSTRATIVJE  OB  NATURE  AND  SCOPE  OP 
IMPORTANT  CONTRIBUTING  FACTORS  IN  INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS 


542  APPENDIX 


NO.  V 

CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  LAW  OF  PEACE,  WORK, 
AND  HEALTH,  IN  RELATIONS  WITHIN  AND  WITH- 
OUT  INDUSTRY 

Chart  No.  V  is  intended  to  suggest  that  the  principles 
underlying  the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health  affect  all 
human  relations;  that  they  bear  upon  relations  arising 
within  Industry,  and  upon  relations  arising  between  human 
beings  wholly  apart  from  Industry. 

The  Chart  is  also  intended  to  indicate  that  the  Law  of 
Peace,  Work,  and  Health,  in  its  operation  (within  or  with- 
out Industry)  is  not  restricted  to  particular  localities,  but 
is  operative  everywhere,  within  localities,  states,  nations, 
and  between  different  countries. 

The  Chart  is  further  intended  to  indicate  that  the  Law 
of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health  is  one,  and  that  whatever 
(within  or  without  Industry)  may  appear  to  affect  Peace, 
Work,  or  Health,  individually,  affects  in  reaUty  these  three 
constituent  elements  of  the  one  Law. 


CHAICT  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  LAW  OF  PEACE,  WORK.AND  HEALTH 
IN  RELATIONS  AVITHIN  AND  WITHOUT  INDUSTRY 


544  APPENDIX 


NO.  VI 

CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  ACTION  AND  REACTION 
OF  DISCOVERY  AND  INVENTION,  GOVERNMENT, 
EDUCATION,  AND  OPINION,  IN  RELATIONS  WITHIN 
AND  WITHOUT  INDUSTRY 

Chart  No.  VI  is  intended  to  suggest  the  action  and  reac- 
tion of  Discovery  and  Invention,  Government,  Education, 
and  Opinion  upon  the  relations  arising  between  human 
beings  within  and  without  Industry,  and  to  emphasize  the 
circumstance  that  these  factors  not  only  operate  continu- 
ally within  and  without  Industry,  on  a  local,  state,  na- 
tional, and  international  scale;  but  that  they  are  also  con- 
tinuously affecting  each  other  and  being  affected  by  all 
that  transpires  in  human  relations. 

The  arrows  which  take  their  beginning  at  the  circum- 
ference of  the  area  indicating  the  relations  within  Industry 
serve,  with  the  undulating  circles,  to  indicate  the  possible 
far-reaching  effect  upon  the  Community  and  the  world  of 
whatever  transpires  within  Industry.  The  arrows  which 
take  their  beginning  within  the  circumference  of  the  outer- 
most circle  suggest,  with  the  undulating  lines,  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  relations  within  Industry  itself  may  be 
affected  by  influences  operating  on  an  international,  na- 
tional, state,  or  local  scale.  The  arrows  which  take  their 
beginning  at  the  base  of  the  lines  descriptive  of  Discovery 
and  Invention,  Government,  Education,  and  Opinion,  are 
intended  to  suggest  that  whatever  affects  any  one  of  the 
several  factors,  Discovery  and  Invention,  Government, 
Education,  or  Opinion,  whether  within  or  without  Indus- 
try, may  affect  all. 


CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  ACTION  AND  REACTION  OF  DISCOVERY 

INVENTION,  GOVERNMENT.  EDUCATION  AND   OPINION  IN 

RELATIONS  WITHIN  AND  WITHOUT  INDUSTRY 


546  APPENDIX 


NO.  VII 

CHART    ILLUSTRATIVE    OF    FACTORS     INFLUENCING 
RELATIONS  WITHIN  AND  WITHOUT  INDUSTRY 

Chabt  No.  VII  is  similar  to  Chart  No.  VI,  in  indicating 
the  operation  of  Discovery  and  Invention,  Government, 
Education,  and  Opinion,  on  a  local,  state,  national,  or  inter- 
national scale,  upon  all  the  relations  arising  between  hu- 
man beings  within  and  without  Industry,  in  the  manner 
described  in  Chart  No.  VI.  It  is  supplementary  in  indicat- 
ing that  the  several  factors  act  and  react,  on  the  scale  and 
in  the  manner  indicated,  both  in  Industry  as  a  whole  and 
in  individual  industries,  as  respects  the  parties  to  Industry, 
the  terms  and  working-out  of  the  industrial  agreement 
(expressed  or  implied)  between  them  in  relation  to  all  that 
affects  the  observance  or  disregard  of  principles  underly- 
ing the  Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health. 


'*':5iXrf^^^;'i- 


CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  FACTORS  INFLUENCING 
RELATIONS  WITHIN  AND  WITHOUT  INJ>USTRY 


548  APPENDIX 


NO.  VIII 

CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  PARTIES  TO  INDUSTRY 
AND  SUGGESTIVE  OF  FACTORS  AND  INFLUENCES 

The  parties  to  Industry  are  Capital,  Labor,  Management, 
and  the  Community.  Chart  No.  VIII  is  intended  to  sug- 
gest factors  and  influences  of  which  account  has  to  be  taken 
in  any  effort  finally  to  determine  the  actual  and  relative 
positions  of  the  parties  at  any  given  moment;  and  like- 
wise the  factors  and  influences  which  are  continuously 
operating  to  change  the  positions  of  the  parties.  The 
main  purpose  of  the  Chart  is  to  indicate  that  the  prob- 
lems of  Industry  constitute  essentially  studies  in  social 
dynamics.  The  Chart  is  also  intended  to  emphasize  the 
futility  of  expecting  a  solution  of  industrial  problems  by 
changes  in  the  static  structure  of  Industry  other  than 
such  as  are  based  upon  principles  which  accord  with  some 
law  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  be  part  of  an  order  un- 
derlying all  human  relations. 


552  APPENDIX 


NO.  IX 

CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  TERMS  AND  THE 
WORKING-OUT  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AGREEMENTS,  AND 
IMPORTANT  CONTRIBUTING  INFLUENCES 

Chart  No.  IX  is  intended  as  supplementary  to  Chart  No. 
VIII.  To  convey  any  adequate  conception  of  the  factors 
and  influences  of  which  account  has  to  be  taken  in  dealing 
with  the  problem  of  industrial  relations  as  a  whole,  Charts 
Nos.  VIII  and  IX  would  have  to  be  studied  together. 
Chart  No.  VIII  relates  primarily  to  the  parties  to  Indus- 
try. Factors  and  influences  affecting  the  parties  to  Industry 
affect  also  the  terms,  and  the  working-out  of  industrial 
agreements  (expressed  or  implied)  as  regards  individual 
industries  and  Industry  as  a  whole.  As  respects  the  terms 
and  working-out  of  agreements,  there  have  developed  in 
practice,  methods  of  Industrial  Peace,  Industrial  Remu- 
neration, Industrial  Organization,  Industrial  Training, 
methods  of  meeting  Industrial  Risks,  methods  of  Indus- 
trial Betterment,  and  of  Industrial  Government,  all  of 
which,  in  their  relation  to  the  principles  underlying  the 
Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health,  have  a  direct  bearing 
upon  progress  or  confusion  in  Industry. 

The  Chart  is  also  intended  to  suggest  something  of  the 
world  and  human  aspects  of  the  problems  of  Industry;  and 
that  the  most  important  and  significant  of  the  concerns  of 
Industry  are  those  which  relate  to  standards  of  living  and 
labor  standards.  The  Chart  ought  also  to  suggest  that  the 
fundamental  problem  in  Industry  is  one  of  Government, 
and  that  that  form  of  government  alone  is  best  which 
"doth  actuate  and  dispose  every  part  and  member  of  In- 
dustry to  the  common  good." 


GOVERNMENT 


n 


CHART  ILLUSTRATIVE    OF 
THE  TERMS  AKiI>  THE  WORKINfi  OUT  OF 
INm'STHIAL  AHREEMENTS  IIMI'LIEI)  OR  EXPRESSEDI 
AND  IMPORTANT  CONTRIHUTING  INFLUENCES 


o 


556  APPENDIX 


PLAN  OF  INDUSTRIAL  REPRESENTATION  IN  THE 
MINING  CAMPS  OF  THE  COLORADO  FUEL  AND  IRON 
COMPANY  IN  COLORADO  AND  WYOMING 


"tV 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Accidents  and  disease,  323-32. 

Agreements,  rules,  and  regula- 
tions, 193-96. 

Alberta,  coal-mining  strike  in, 
5o5-io. 

Anarchism,  407,  /io8. 

Angell,  Norman,  119. 

Annuities,  338. 

Arbitration,  21 2-1 4,  217,  218, 
221,  222. 

Ask  with.  Sir  George,  497;  quoted, 
498,  499,  5oi,  5o2. 

Australia,  arbitration  in,  218. 

Barnes,  G.  N.,  45i. 

Blindness,  human,  io-i5,  i53. 

British  Labor  Party,  453  and 
note. 

Builders'  National  Industrial  Par- 
liament, 477  note. 

Campbell,  William  Wilfred, 
quoted,  11 4. 

Canada,  Department  of  Labor, 
73,  327,  33i;  Industrial  Dis- 
putes Investigation  Act,  228, 
495-5i3;  employment  of  wo- 
men and  children  in,  3i3-i5; 
telephone  operators  in,  3 16-21; 
Parliament's  action  on  phos- 
phorus, 327-31;  Combines  In- 
vestigation Act,  5 1 5-1 7. 

Capital,  origin  of,  37,  38;  mobil- 
ity and  fluidity,  49-5i;  defini- 
tion, i3o  and  note,  i3i;  inde- 
pendence of,  236;  fears  be- 
setting, 24o-46. 

Capitalism,  prejudice  against, 
98-101;  not  evil  in  itself,  loi- 
07. 

Character,  170-74. 

Child  Labor,  3io-i5. 

China,  4oi. 

Chinese  labor,  73-79. 


Clark,  Victor,  quoted,  494- 

Cohen,  Julius  Henry,  his  Law 
and  Order  in  Industry,  43 1  note. 

Coke,  Sir  Edward,  quoted,  429. 

Cole,  G.  D.  H.,  his  Self-Govern- 
ment  in  Industry  quoted,  4i6 
and  note. 

Collectivism,  4o4,  4ii-i3. 

Colorado  Coal  Conunission,  Re- 
port of,  442-46. 

Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Com- 
pany, 434-48. 

Colorado  plan ,  the,  434-48,  465, 
466,  469  note,  473,  474,  479 
note,  480  note. 

Commission  on  Industrial  Unrest, 
45o-52. 

Communities,  model,  358-6i. 

Community,  the  use  of  the  word, 
3o  note;  as  a  party  to  industry, 
1 34-36;  industrial  fears  caused 
by,  247-5i;  industrial  com- 
binations against  the  welfare 
of,  252-54;  its  interest  in  the 
prevention  of  industrial  acci- 
dents and  disease,  333-36,  343- 
45;  its  right  to  representation 
in  the  control  of  industry,  371- 

9°-      .  . 
Competition,   world-wide  nature 

of,     54,     57;    foreign,     62-65; 

the  law  of,  65-8o. 
Conciliation,  206-09,  215-17,  219, 

221,  222. 
Conference,  importance  of,  2o4- 

06,  23o.   Sec  also  Round  table 

conference. 
Confidence,  169-85. 
Constitution,  an  industrial,  428, 

429. 
Consumers,  responsibility  of,  483, 

484. 
Consumers'  Leagues,  484- 
Contract,  106-09. 


564 


INDEX 


Control,  virtual  ownership,  4i9- 

21. 

Co-operation,  299-802. 
Co-partnership,  296-802. 
Crothers,  Thomas  W.,  827  note. 
Cunningham,  William,  82  note, 
35,  87. 

Directorates,  428-27. 

Directors,  responsibility  of,  178- 

80. 
Discipline,  196,  197. 
Diseases,    occupational,    828-81, 

846,  847. 
Discovery,  86-88,  98,  94. 

Education,  supplementing  inven- 
tion and  government  in  the 
improvement  of  industrial  re- 
lations, 43o;  the  community 
view  of,  48o-85;  as  insurance, 
485;  and  insight,  486;  a  de- 
fence against  industrial  and 
international  strife,  525. 

Education,  industrial,  269-71. 

Efficiency,  265-71. 

Eliot,  Charles  W.,  quoted,  356, 
857,366,  367,488. 

Employers'  liabUity  acts,  889. 

England,  co-partnership  in,  298; 
outlook  for  industrial  govern- 
ment in,  476,  477-  See  also 
Great  Britain. 

English  Constitution,  4oo,  4oi. 

English  Retail  Co-operative  So- 
cieties, 800. 

Fair  Wages  Resolution,  78. 
Fears,  ii5-i7,  282-68,  382-4i. 
Force,  490,  528-26. 
Fosdick,    Harry    Emerson,     i55 

note. 
Freedom  in  industry,  struggle  of, 

Ii3-i5. 

Garden  cities,  359-61. 

Garretson,  Austin  B.,  on  indus- 
trial war,  20,  21. 

Garton  Foundation,  477  note; 
its  Memorandum  on  (he  Indus- 
trial Situalion  afler  tlie  War,  453 


and  note,  454, 466  note;  quoted, 

472. 

General  Electric  Company,  Sec- 
retary Wilson's  message  to 
strikers,  521-28. 

George  V.,  229. 

Germany,  militarism  and  the 
industrial  system,  896-98,  4i3. 

Great  Britain,  industrial  restric- 
tions and  regulations  in,  24i; 
the  national  minimum  in,  848, 
849;  recent  improvements  in 
relations  of  capital  and  labor, 
449-76,  479-   See  also  England. 

Gresham's  Law  of  the  precious 
metals,  65,  66. 

Hart,  SchaflFner  and  Marx,  281. 

Health,  principles  underlying, 
8o4-63;  the  basis  of  efficiency, 
8o4-o6. 

Henderson,  Arthur,  quoted,  i4i. 

Hodgson,  G.  M.,  45i. 

Howard,  Prof.  Earl  Dean,  quoted, 
281  and  note. 

Howe,  Frederic  C,  his  Garden 
Cities  of  England  quoted,  860 
and  note. 

Hull  House,  67,  68. 

Humanity,  necessity  for  its  su- 
premacy in  industry,  26,  27. 

Industrial  areas,  changes  in,  45, 

46. 
Industrial  conflict,  of  the  same 

character  as  war,   ig-26,   490, 

491;   international  aspects  of, 

493,  494. 
Industrial  Councils,  456-62,  469- 

Industrial  problems,  relation  to 
international  problems,  27,  28; 
spirit,  not  form  of  organization, 
must  solve,  i47,  i48. 

Industrial  service,  455. 

Industrial  Training  and  Techni- 
cal Education,  Royal  Com- 
mission on,  270  note. 

Industrial  Workers  of  the  World, 
4o6. 

Industry,  unrest,  1-28;  the  world 


INDEX 


565 


aspect,  29-58;  world  expan- 
sion, /i6-58;  the  human  aspect, 
Sg-Qo;  possibilities  of  progress, 
91-126;  large-scale  organiza- 
tion of,  98-107;  stability  and 
instability,  109-18;  definition, 
127;  the  four  parties  to,  128- 
^8;  the  basis  of  reconstruction 
of,  149-166;  justice  and  mercy 
necessary  to  peace  in,  167-282; 
effects  of  fear  and  faith  on  pro- 
duction in,  233-3o3;  the  rela- 
tion of  health  and  living  con- 
ditions to,  3o/i-63;  right  of 
representation  of  labor  and  the 
community  in  the  control  of, 
364-90;  government  in,  891- 
429;  influence  of  public  opinion 
on,  43o-523;  and  war,  628-26; 
a  new  era  in,  626-29. 

Insurance,  887,  346-47- 

International  Labor  Association, 
824-26. 

Invention,  38-4 1,  94-98,  284. 

Investigation,  206  and  note,  209- 
12,  2i5-22,  491,  495-628,  626, 
627. 

Investments  of  the  peirties  to 
industry,  869-76. 

James,  William,  quoted,  344, 
48o,  486,  487. 

Japanese  labor,  78-76. 

Jesus,  teachings  of,  488,  48g. 

Jevons,  W.  Stanley,  his  State  in 
Relation  to  Labor  quoted,  267- 
69,  334. 

Joint  Standing  Industrial  Coun- 
cils, 484- 

Justice,  and  mercy,  167-71;  in 
English  history,  186-87,  189- 
92;  machinery  of,  222-82. 

Justicieu",  the,  186-87. 

Kingsmere,  i49,  i5o. 

Labor,  Oriental  labor,  78-79; 
associated  effort,  109,  no; 
"recognition"  of,  200;  organi- 
zation of,  200-02;  fears  that 
beset,   285-89;  i'-s  investment 


in    industry,    869,    870,    876; 

its  right   to  representation   in 

the  control  of  industry,  870-90. 
Ladjor  disputes,  human  blindness 

in,  i8-i5. 
Labor  exchanges,  887. 
Labor    Party   of   Great   Britain, 

848,  849- 
Labor  problem,  the,  a  community 

problem,  29-82. 
Labor-saving  machinery,  282-87. 
Laurier,    Sir    Wilfrid,    and     the 

Alberta    coal    strike,    606-09; 

and    the    Industrial    Disputes 

Investigation  Act,  5 10,  5ii. 
Law,  industrial,  280. 
Law  of  Blood  and  Death,  the,  4- 

19,  ii4,  ii5,  i56,  160. 
Law  of  Christian   Service,    126, 

126. 
Law    of    Competing    Standards, 

66-80,  126,  826,  85o,  862,  868. 
Law  of  Peace,  Work,  and  Health, 

the,  4-19,  n4,  ii5,  i54-66. 
Law  of  the  Survival  of  the  Fittest, 

117-26. 
Laws,  the  struggle  of  two  con- 
trary, 4-19,  ii4,  ii5. 
Lemieux,  Bodolphe,  499- 
Lloyd  George,  David,  6o5. 
Lugemo,  824. 

Macgregor,  D.  H.,  his  Evolution 
of  Industry  quoted,  94,  96. 

Machinery,  influence  on  indus- 
try, 4 1-45;  labor-saving,  282-87. 

McPherson,  Logan  Grant,  his 
How  the  World  Makes  Its  Liv- 
ing, 81  note;  quoted,  129. 

Magna  Charta,  189-92. 

Maine,  Sir  Henry,  106. 

Management,  needed  in  industry, 
i3i-88;  its  relation  to  indus- 
trial fears,  289,  24o,  246-48, 
262;  scientific  management,  282, 
287-91 ;  personnel  management, 
292;  under  socialism,  4i2,  4i3, 
4i6;  its  relation  to  the  directo- 
rate, 428-26. 

Matches,  disease  caused  by,  826- 
3o. 


566 


INDEX 


Maternity  benefits,  338,  346. 

Mediation,  206,  207,  209. 

Memorandum  on  the  Industrial 
Situation  after  the  War,  i38 
note. 

Merchants  Shipping  Act,  5o5  and 
note. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  255. 

Montfort,  Simon  de,  Sgi,  392. 

Mortality  from  Respiratory  Dis- 
eases in  Dusty  Trades,  32^  note. 

Mulock,  Sir  William,  70,  71,  73. 

Nasmyth,  George,  1 19  note. 
National  guilds,  /jiG-ig. 
National  minimum,  348-5/1. 
National  War  Labor  Board,  225- 

27,  477,  478,  522,  523. 

Nationality,     parallel    evolution 

with  industry,  32-36. 
Nervous  strain,  3 17-23. 
New  Zealand,  arbitration  in,  218. 

Old  age,  provision  for,  347,  348. 
Opium,  76  and  note. 
Organization,  200-02. 

Parkinson,  Thomas  T.,  his  Con- 
stitutional Aspects  of  Compul- 
sory Arbitration  quoted,  492. 

Parkman,  Francis,  quoted,  i5o. 

Parliament,  the  English,  Sgi, 
392. 

Pasteur,  Louis,  4-6,  i54  and  note, 
I 55-57. 

Pensions,  338,  346-48. 

Personality,  59-90. 

Phosphorus  poisoning,  324-3o. 

Piece-work,  274-78. 

Political  economy,  87,  88. 

Political  intrigue,  384. 

Preventive  medicine,  356,  357. 

Price,  his  Co-Operation  and  Co- 
partnership, 296  note. 

Production,  cost  of,  266,  267. 

Profit-sharing,  280,  281,  292- 
3o2. 

Public  opinion,  220,  3i4,  3i5, 
43o,  483,  507,  5io,  5i6,  528. 

Public  ownership,  4i5,  421. 

Pym,  John,  422,  423. 


Quebec,  Province  of,  employ- 
ment of  women  and  children 
in  cotton  factories,  3i3-i5. 

Railways,  in  China,  95,  96. 

"Recognition,"  200. 

Reconstruction  Committee,  449, 
45o  and  note. 

Remuneration,  271-81.  See  also 
Rewards. 

Representation  in  control  of  in- 
dustry, 364-90;  in  the  Colorado 
Fuel  and  Iron  Company,  443- 
48;  as  treated  in  the  Whitley 
Report,  454-76. 

Representation  in  government, 
393,  394. 

Revolution,  4oi,  4o2. 

Rewards,  i36,  i37,  254-6o,  271- 
81. 

Richberg,  Donald  R.,  371  note, 
377;  quoted,  377. 

Robertson,  Gideon,  522  note. 

Rochdale  Plan,  the,  3oo. 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  Jr.,  his 
address  on  The  Personal  Rela- 
tion in  Industry,  176,  177  and 
note;  and  the  Colorado  miners, 
438. 

Round  table  conference,  365- 
68,  389,  390,  44i-  See  also 
Conference. 

Rules,  regulations,  and  agree- 
ments, 193-96. 

Russia,  4oi. 

Scientific  management,  282,  287- 

91-    ^ 
Scientific  research,  122,  i23. 
Scottish  Wholesale  Societies,  298, 

299- 
Settlements,  social,  357,  358. 
Shadwell,  Arthur,   275,  276;  his 

Industrial  Efficiency,  272  note; 

quoted,  274,  278,  280. 
Shonts,  Theodore  P.,  374. 
Slums,  68,  69. 
Smith,     Adam,    8;    quoted,    100 

note. 
Social    Unit    Organization,   357, 

358  and  note. 


INDEX 


567 


Socialism,  4o2-i4. 

Soutti  Metropolitan  Gas  Com- 
pany, 298. 

Sparkes,  Alalcolm,  his  Memoran- 
dum on  Industrial  Self-Govern- 
ment,  477  note. 

Spiritual    interpretation    of   life, 

123-25. 

Square  Deal,  The,  quoted,  2^3. 

State,  the,  and  industry,  8,  9; 
relations  and  parallelism  of  its 
government  to  that  of  indus- 
try, 391-429. 

Stockholders,  responsibility  of, 
177,  178. 

Strikes  and  lockouts,  491-99. 

Sun-dials,  1 49-53. 

Survival  of  the  fittest,  117-25. 

Sweating,  69-71. 

Syndicalism,  4o6,  407. 

Taswell-Langmead,  Thomas  Pitt, 
his  English  Constitutional  His- 
tory quoted,  4oo,  4oi,  428. 

Telephone  operators,  3 16-21. 

Thayer,  William  Roscoe,  his 
Germany  vs.  Civilization,  396, 
398. 

Times,  London  Weekly,  article 
quoted,  398,  399. 

Trade-unionism,  militancy  of, 
378,  38o;  fundamental  aims, 
43i,  432;  mistaken  policies, 
432,  433;  achievements,  433. 

Unemployment,  237,  346. 

United  States  Department  of 
Labor,  reports,  324  note;  policy 
in  the  World  War,  521-23. 

Vocational  training,  269-71. 

Wages.     See  Remuneration  and 

Rewards. 
Wages  boards,  337. 
War,  the  fundamental  cause  of, 

10;    its   relation    to    industry, 

523-27. 
War,  the  World,  a  Frankenstein 


monster,  i-4;  and  industry,  3, 
4;  and  science,  4-7;  labor  ad- 
justment in,  224-29;  has  dis- 
closed the  interdependence  of 
the  parties  to  industry,  387- 
89;  and  the  British  industrial 
system,  449-76;  labor  legisla- 
tion in,  519-23. 

War  Labor  Conference  Board, 
224,  226. 

Watt,  James,  8. 

Webb,  Sidney,  his  Restoration 
of  Trade  Union  Conditions, 
235  note. 

Welfare  work,  2o3,  2o4. 

Wheeler,  Everett  P.,  his  Dis- 
cussion of  Trades  Unions  and 
Compulsory  Arbitration  quoted, 
492. 

Whither?   i23  note. 

Whitley,  J.  H.,  45o;  his  Reports 
of  a  sub-committee  of  the 
British  Reconstruction  Com- 
mittee, 434,  435, 450-75. 

Wholesale  Productive  Co-opera- 
tive Societies  of  Scotland,  298, 

299-  .      ,  . 

Williams,  Aneurm,  his  Co-Part- 

nership  and  Profit-Sharing,  296 

note. 
Wilson,  President,  229. 
Wilson,   Secretary  W.   B.,   62 1- 

23. 

Wister,  Owen,  his  Pentecost  of 
Calamity  quoted,  3i. 

Women  and  children,  employ- 
ment of,  3 10-23. 

Work,  principles  underlying,  233- 
3o3;  influence  of  fear  and  of 
faith  on,  233;  production  its 
immediate  objective,  234. 

Workingman,  his  position  based 
on  contract  rather  than  status, 
106-09. 

Workmen's  compensation  acts, 
339,  34o,  346. 

Works  Committees,  45o,  457, 
460,  462,  463  and  note,  466, 
467,  469  and  note,  473-75. 


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